The Calming of The Storm
by Sharper Lee
Summary: Nightmare has been killed, but Soul Edge chooses Talim as it's new host. Follow Yunsung as he attempts to find her and calm the beast she has become, using his memories from the past to keep him going. YunsungTalim. Complete!
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Hello and welcome to my brand new story! Ever wondered what Talim would be like if she was evil? Well this is pretty close. This is the story of Yunsung, a childhood sweetheart of Talim's, as he attempts to calm the beast Talim has been transformed into. I don't own Soul Calibur or any of its stuff.

First, an introductory chapter.

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_They're calling them eras now._

_It's rather disgusting that something to do with Soul Edge's power should be given such a prestigious title of an 'era'. _

_And yet they even give the name to it's captor, which goes on to slay a thousand men. Lovely. Completely and utterly deserving of such a great honour as to have an entire space of time named after them, don't you think?_

_Well we've just got over Nightmare's era. Nightmare killed hundreds if not thousands of men and women and children under the influence of Soul Edge, feasting upon their souls. It was horrible. We lived in fear of him coming to our town each and every day, taking lots of safety precautions. And there was stories abound, stories which would make your toes crawl back into your feet. The men told them in the village, and I always steered clear, covering my ears if necessary, trying to block out the tales of terror from our surrounding lands._

_And then...well, he was dead. No-one knew who or what killed him, or how, or why. But word got about that he was dead, and the Major came and held a congregation and confirmed to us: "Yes, he is dead!". And there was whoops and cheers and men came over and spontaneously kissed me on the cheek like it was New Years Day, because they were so happy, and I was so happy too._

_Just when we were waiting for the guards to give us a bit of leeway, there was bad news. Familiar news. Soul Edge had a new host._

_After a precious month of celebration, it's deja vu all over again. It's early yet for stories, apart from one. I hear( even i'm a little curious) of a girl, who couldn't be older than 15. She moves so quickly the person is dead before they know it. Her eyes and hair are black, and her skin is wrought with cuts. One said, "She moves so quick- it was like the wind.!"_

_And so she was dubbed: "Tornado." This is Tornado's era._

_Diary extract from a woman living at the time._

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I hope you enjoyed that. Review!


	2. Chapter 2: Lack of Life

Voila! REVIEWS PLEASSSEEEEEEE!

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Ayutthaya, a thriving city, hustles and bustles happily on the fifteenth consecutive rainless day that year- a rare feat for Indonesia. The market traders are content- the dry weather ensures them plenty of customers. Children play with little fear of them getting wet, and their mothers with little fear of them slipping and grazing their knees. The scribes take their work outside, discussing amongst each other, inwardly happy that they can do the things they do best in such good atmosphere. But in one small apartment in a triple story house, there is a stark contrast.

The curtains are drawn, so little light strayed into the room. Clothes, knives, cloths and toiletries lie sprawled across the floor. A curved, shiny sword hangs on the banister of a very plain bed. And sitting on the bed is a new man of eighteen. A new man, yes, because this man in particular used to be quite different. He sits, hunched, staring blankly downwards between his knees, his breathing inaudible. His clothes are bright and colorful, or they could be if some light was exposed to them; An blue with green flames open jacket, baring a strong torso, long baggy shorts down to his knees with the same design, and simple sandals.

The downtrodden, silent and unmoving Yunsung you are seeing now is quite different to the one three months ago. That Yunsung was close to hyperactive- boisterous, impulsive, ready for anything and rash, but nonetheless charming. What is going on in his mind right now is difficult to decipher; if he were to try to tell you, he would surely fail.

_Fail._ There is one thing we are sure he is thinking about. Failure. He has failed, or at least he thinks he has. And someone else has failed as a result, at least he thinks so.

Suddenly, the door opens. In walks a slightly older woman, nonetheless an eye-opener. She has brown hair, tied back in a ponytail, and wears a green sarong and red top- again, colorful clothing, but looking more so with the fine look of the girl's face. Upon seeing the boy (who had not looked up at her arrival),she sighed.

"Come on, grumpy." she said to him in a motherly sort of way, "Let's go to town."

"We've been to the town." grunted Yunsung, his eyes on the white duvet, "Five times, Mina."

"Well we can go again, I'm bored!" Mina moaned.

"Go. I'll stay here." he said shortly.

"No, you're coming with me, you can't mope about that girl 'til kingdom come!" Mina demanded, and strode over and tried to heave the boy off the bed and onto his feet. He snatched his arm away, then lay down and stared at the ceiling. Mina went, "Awwwnnnnn..."

"Shut up, Mina. Go away." Yunsung said blankly, "I'm busy."

Mina ignored this, and lay down on the bed beside him, and he took little notice. She fixed her arms behind her head and tried to look at him. His gaze was fixed on the ceiling.

"Yunsung..."she said softly, "I know what happened to Talim is very sad, but you can't let it get to you so. We came here to have a good time..."

"No we didn't." Yunsung sighed, "She was here. I saw her last here."

"So you've said about a million times." Mina tolled, "Anyway, Talim...she was lovely, I know, but...there'll be other girls out there for you. You..."she cleared her throat oddly as if this was going to hurt, "You've got a really good personality."she said, but she couldn't help pulling a face out the side of her mouth.

"It's not about that."

"Mm? Didn't you like her?"

He paused. "Yeah."

"So you liked her. You liked lots of girls."

Yunsung heaved a huge sigh, "Don't care about them any more."

Mina sighed too, but of impatience, "So, you only love Talim now. But...she's gone. She's taken away. There's no point in moping about it, it won't do anything about it."

He was silent.

"You're eighteen. You've got your whole life ahead of you, Yunsung. Don't you have some dreams you should be fufilling? Something you have to work towards?"

Yunsung turned his head and fixed her with a steely, but reproachful look. His eyes quivered.

"R-ight..."Mina rolled her eyes, "So ONE of those dreams was to get Talim in bed with you-"

"Get out of this room, Mina."Yunsung's tone had changed.

Mina hesitated. She then looked a little ashamed. After a while, she mumbled, "Sorry. I shouldn't have said that." but then looked like she wished she had just left.

"You don't joke like that about someone who has been taken over by Soul Edge!" He insisted, standing up instantly, incensed.

"Steady on." said Mina, readying herself just in case.

"How would you feel, if you could have stopped someone from traveling to their doom, if you hadn't been so full of stupid, irresponsible, impossible confidence in her? She was fifteen!" Yunsung's voice shook.

"It wasn't your fault! She nearly made it, too!" Mina squeaked, swiftly realizing what she'd been saying.

"It was! It was my fault! I should have told her she was stupid and shouldn't do it! If i go out I might send someone else to their deaths! You never know!" he said to Mina's rapidly shaking head, "You never know!"

"No!" she said desperately, "It's not your fault! She wouldn't have stopped if you tried! She kept saying the Wind told her to go!"

"And I sat and listened to it!" He shouted, "I sucked all the drivel about the Wind in! Why didn't I just tell her she was off her rocker? Why didn't I tell her to go home?"

"You loved her, that's why!"Mina replied earnestly, "You loved her so much you couldn't bear to break her heart like that! You were just being nice to her! That can't have had anything to do with it!"

Yunsung shook his head, running his hand through his hair, pacing, "If I was really nice to her, if I really liked her, I would have went with her! I should have come with her instead of being so big-headed and saying I could do it on my own! How could I ever _want_ that sword! _How?"_

"But...but that's just you!" Mina told him, "You were always like that, really confident and all! You couldn't help it! It's who you are!"

"THEN I DON'T WANT TO BE ME ANY MORE!"Yunsung roared.

Mina threw his arms around him desperately. Yunsung was taken aback at first, watching her cling onto him fearfully, but then gingerly put his hand on her head, pacified. She sniffed, "I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have said all those terrible things! I understand you love her! You'll always love her!" she said tearfully into his chest.

Yunsung stayed silent, his attention had waned by something Mina said._ "You'll always love her!" _It triggered something inside him. He loved her, he still loved her, and if that was true, he could still see her. Talim wasn't dead or gone. She was perfectly locatable. _He could still be with her! _Seeing and being with Talim had consumed him all this time. But he'd assumed it was impossible...


	3. Chapter 3: Love is in the air!

Ok here's the anticipated third chapter! Ta-da! Now, I might have edited the back history of Yunsung and Talim, like cos this is totally AU and stuff! So yay! This chapter took me a good while to write so don't let it go to waste! REVIEW!!!

And I'm very pleased you like my idea of Tornado!

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Yunsung left the city the next day. Mina begged him not to go, tugging on his arm and eventually clinging onto him, sobbing that Talim couldn't be helped and she would surely kill him. They had always quarreled, but were drawn together by some magnetic force- the pouting, mocking and jeering that had followed them since childhood appeared to be some sort of pleasure to them both.

Mina then insisted that she come with Yunsung, that way he would not make the same mistake twice. But Yunsung knew he wasn't the same man anymore- this journey was not of cockiness, or self-fulfillment, but for someone else special to him. He knew there was something special between him and Talim, and he wanted it help her any way he could, by any means, even if he wasn't sure how at the moment.

Then Mina reached breaking point. She was crying so hard Yunsung found it impossible to ignore it. He comforted her, even kissing her on the cheek-he really would miss her. But eventually he had to pull away and begin his journey. He told Mina to find someone special and settle down, and move on with her own life, because he could be any amount of time, and he would make contact if he could.

He had only his feet for transport, and made a start. He kept his head down, daydreaming, walking along a path trodden by horses and carriages- he was heading towards the nearest port, so he could sail to Korea, where Talim was last seen. He was daydreaming about when he and Talim first met...

oOoOoOo

"So then...so then I says, well you can 'ave the horse, mate, it only cost me five..."

There was an outburst of laughter from the crowded table. It consisted of one, old, mostly toothless man, and several middle-aged men, and about three teenagers, all having a drink and a joke. The Ayutthaya bar was packed as usual; there was heavy fumes in the air from tobacco, and there was a loud gabble and lots of folksy music. And there was Yunsung, at the crowded table, in tears at the joke. His peers at this town had told him not to miss this old comedy act of a man. He was a true expert at repertoire, and his husky laugh and his toothless grin had a charm which you would usually get from your own grandparent.

Yunsung watched the man, eager for another joke- the rest of the congregation was still recovering from his latest. As the man began again, Yunsung was distracted by a small girl passing the group, behind the old man's chair. Yunsung stood up and looked over the heads of the table to see the girl properly.

She couldn't have been taller than five feet. She wore white, red and green clothing- a light green strip covering her chest, cloth plumes which might have been sleeves on her shoulders and forearms. She wore white, baggy shorts which tightened below her knees, long socks and green plimsolls. This outfit was standout, but what was most standout to Yunsung was her face. Her eyes seemed impossibly large, yet set beautifully in her face, and she had black hair which was tied into two ponytails. Her lips were visibly smooth and her nose was small, cute and pointy.

The girl stopped behind another large group of guffawing men. She was trying to get past them to reach the counter of the bar. Yunsung could see her trying to politely ask them to move, but the men ignored her. With his heart beating a little quicker and a surge of impatience at the men, Yunsung removed himself from his table and started towards the girl.

"Excuse me..."he tapped the girl on the shoulder.

"Oh!" she turned quickly, and smiled. "Hello? Can I help you?"

"Can I help _you?"_ Yunsung said, grinning.

"Oh, no it's quite alright!" Talim said politely, and turned to try and address the men again. And again they ignored her, too immersed in their own rude conversation.

"O-kay!" Yunsung announced to the men, impatience for the girl raising again, and the men turned, "Move it, ladies!" Yunsung ordered.

The men began to argue, but Yunsung took the girl's arm and pushed past the men to the counter. When they reached it, he banged on it, "Hey! Pint-man! We got a lady lookin' for a room...err, is that right?" Yunsung consulted the girl.

"Um, yes." she nodded.

The diminutive man who produced the drinks from under the counter, came to them and sighed, "I wish you wouldn't call me Pint-man, Yunsung, my name is Shan."

The girl giggled at Yunsung (who swelled inside), and moved forward, "Shan, I'm Talim, and I'm looking for a room for the night."

"Okay, then." said Shan, obviously content at being called his real name.

"Say..." Yunsung asked Talim as she forked over some money, "You wouldn't be from the Philippines...?"

She nodded again, her eyes, he noticed, almost permanently bright.

"Thought so when I heard your name." he replied, "It's a cool name."

"Thank you." said Talim quietly.

Yunsung cringed inside- maybe saying her name was cool wasn't the ideal chat-up line. He readily offered to escort her to her room. When ascending the staircase, Yunsung asked Talim her profession, and she replied, "I am a Wind Shaman."

"What's that?" Yunsung asked.

"It is someone who is experienced at reading the wind and can teach others to read it." she said, textbook-style.

"You can read the wind now?"

"Yes. It's very useful."

"Can you tell the future?"

"Sometimes." she said patiently, "It's very vague. I can make it out sometimes."

"So...so could you read the wind right now?" Yunsung asked.

"If you want." she said, and she drifted. They reached the top of the stairs and Yunsung waited for her answer. She leaned on the banister, staring up at the ceiling. After maybe a minute, Talim looked at Yunsung, and smiled. She didn't say a word. She just smiled at him, and there was something knowing behind it.

"Well?" Yunsung asked, nonplussed to it, "What does it say?"

"No-thing..."she said in a high and more girly voice, and continued along the landing, consulting the number on her key.

"Come on, there was something wasn't there! Tell me!" he insisted.

"Oh, it's not important. I'm tired." she said unconvincingly.

"You're not!" he said, and with a half-hearted chuckle, he gave her a little push on the shoulder. She stopped outside the door to her room, and turned and looked at him with a huge grin, her eyes brighter and larger than ever. Staring at her pretty face, Yunsung found he knew what the wind said before she's even told him.

"It told you I liked you, didn't it..?"

"Yes!" she cried, and swing herself around the door and into her room. Oh well, Yunsung thought, at least hinting wasn't so necessary any more...


	4. Chapter 4: Your Eyes are my Mantra

I'm really sorry about the effin HUGE delay. Here are the main reasons:

-Guild Wars (not mine btw)

-Coursework

-Devoidness of ideas

-Perfectionism

-I can't do fight scenes!

Anyway this is chapter four.

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"_Pirates!!!"_

Yunsung responded to the cry instantly and tugged the rope to roll up the sails, so they could not be slashed. He whipped his head around to see another ship, nearly the same as theirs apart from a dragon carved into the front, sidling alongside theirs, with men firing flaming spears at the crew, who quick and organised, meeting such troubles before. Everyone- roles were interchangeable- spread around the deck, snatching up their blades and shields, or one of the few muskets. The captain flicked out his own sword, but bellowed orders as hard as he could at the crew. Yunsung took to the side of the ship, one foot up on the edge, watching the Chinese pirates, with helmets like cymbals, also readying their weapons.

There was one precious second of silence, where the two crews faced each other, each with a careful glance at their respective captains. Then, Shiffur, Yunsung's captain, gave a roar, and Yunsung pounced.

It was a simple jump to the other ship. About five of the pirates immediately circled in on him, eyes cold but dancing with a slight malicious pride. He grinned at them, edging closer and closer on him- they appeared to know that he must be dangerous to have the bravery to pounce forward in front of everyone else. _Yes...that's it...closer...closer... _Yunsung thought calculatingly, smiling wider- it was good to be back in battle again, it gave him a distraction, and a pleasant adrenaline boost he needed.

Close enough, he thought. He whipped White Storm from his belt and let fly with a pirouetting attack; his feet spun, while his sword slashed at the same time as if they worked seperately. This didn't connect, but Yunsung never intended it to-it broke them apart, and so after the third spin, Yunsung readily and unexpectedly let a flying kick out to the side with a jump. It smacked a totally unprepared soldier in the face, throwing him sideways. Another kick to the stomach winded him enough for Yunsung to turn to the next enemy. There happened to be one beside him too, close enough to sweep their feet...

oOoOoOo

But the battle was over in minutes. Now Yunsung was left in the crow's nest, to dwell upon his fate and what had happened to Talim. Of the battle, Yunsung hadn't stopped to wonder about what Talim would have said or done. She wouldn't be so aggressive as him. She knew what she was doing, but she fought with such grace one think she was simply going through the motions. Her body would move in some speedy ballet-a speed Yunsung had never seen matched. Yunsung was quick, but took pleasure from battling and showed off as much as he could. Talim did the bare minimum (well, what seemed to her was the bare minimum), and said she fought a godly fight- a fight to 'banish the bad out of people so they may see their wrongs'. Yes, Yunsung could remember when Talim last fought him...

oOoOoOo

"Tic...tic...tic...tic...tic...tic...tic."

This was, apparently, how someone achieved clarity of mind. Talim called it a 'mantra'. One had to focus on the sound, and try not to think of anything else.

Yunsung sat, legs crossed, making this ticking noise, in the town's arena. The arena was usually used for shows and special events, but it was open to the public, and Talim and Yunsung decided to use it as a training ground. Upon arriving, Talim sat and began her mantra, and Yunsung tried to join in. His head was buzzing at being with her, however, and couldn't concentrate. He claimed it was because he couldn't put both his feet on either thigh, like she could.

"Oh, that's got nothing to do with it."she sighed, her plimsolls comfortably behind her knees, "It's harder for boys to do it, and I know lots of boys who can achieve a mantra."

"Why can't boys do it?" Yunsung grunted, his pelvis burning as he tried to force his leg farther.

"Because girls are more flexible."

"So why are girls so flexible then?"

"...erm...because we need to give birth."

"Ah."Yunsung stopped forcing his leg. He was always halted by facts. In his opinion, facts and figures were so irrepressibly boring that they stopped people talking. Talim did make them seem less boring, however, simply because she was nice to look at.

"Ready?" Talim hopped up, disentangling like an insect.

"Who needs a mantra?" He grunted confidently, "I can take anyone."

She smiled humorously. They stood up, stationed themselves about two and a half metres apart, and faced each other. There were a couple of people in the stands- it was a regular meeting place for young people. Talim and Yunsung bowed to one another respectfully. Then they stared at each other, waiting for the other's first move, clenching their fists- there were to be no weapons. Yunsung's eyes were lowered slightly.

She moved first. She dashed forward and flipped herself through the air, like a vertically thrown discus. Yunsung held up his arms in a cross shape to block her, but she used it as a platform and sprung back effortlessly on her feet again. "A-a-a!" Talim cartwheeled across the ground towards him, her hands and feet so fast, Yunsung couldn't hold one, and was crushed into the ground. He rolled over and got up quickly to see that she had been ready to kick him on the ground. Yunsung delivered a kick of his own to her chest- it knocked her over, but she rolled back up again.

It became a wonder to Yunsung as to how Talim achieved such acrobatics. She could lift herself high into the air and flip without any aid. She was rarely outed on the ground- she tended to use it as a spring to rocket back up onto her feet.

Yunsung took a few evasive seconds to judge which approach would be best. Talim's main weakness was that she was light and small. So he set himself as firmly as he could into the ground, and beckoned Talim with her finger. Her eyes flashed. She charged towards him, preparing to use her cartwheel assault again. Yunsung thrust his shoulder forward solidly, and with a satisfying _thump_, it smashed into her middle body, and she was sent backwards and onto the ground. She struggled to get up, but Yunsung sent his sandal across the side of her head in springing over her. There was a pained cry- it penetrated his meditative subconscious. He tried to shake the feelings of shame away- this was a battle, he couldn't think about having hurt her...

He sent his shoulder into her once more, then, once she was in a headlock, Yunsung said, "Stop?"

She coughed affirmatively. He released her, and she knelt onto the ground, panting. Yunsung knelt beside her and pushed a few strands of hair from her face. She was sweating, her cheeks were red, and there was bruising around her eye, but she made a slightly disjointed smile at him.

"That was great."she wheezed.

"Yeah. Let's get your eye sorted out." It had totally consumed him now.

"Ok...wow...owch...I so wasn't ready...ahh..."she grunted, "I need ice..."

He laughed nervously, "We're getting that, Talim." He lifted her onto her feet.

"Sorry...I can't think straight...s'all your fault..."

"My fault?"

"Yes...has anyone ever told you...that you have...funny eyes?"she wheezed.

Yunsung grinned at her, "You have funny eyes too. Come on. The stream's close by, we can bathe your eye there."

"Ok...just make sure I don't bump into anything...my head _hurts..."_


	5. Chapter 5: Compelled to think

Fanfiction uploader hasn't been working recently, so that's the reason for the age-long update, and plus I'm really stuck for time because of exams coming up. But here it is, the fifth chapter.

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"Wow, well look who it is..."

"Great to have you back!"

"It's been too long!"

Yunsung couldn't really spare more than a shake of the hand for his hometown's people. Every time he attempted a smile he felt terribly guilty. It felt like he was being a fake, smiling in spite of loss he felt he had caused. The sun was out, but Yunsung felt it was trying to boil everyone alive rather than providing a pleasant day. What was even more uncomfortable for him was that his old girlfriends came over to greet him, and it pained him to even look at them.

"Yunny!"

"I thought you'd never come back!"

He was starting to wish he never did. He knew he should have taken that canoe along the coast to avoid the town, but he'd decided it was useless coming here and not visiting where he'd grown up. He mused over whether or not to find his parents, but that was below ignorance, not grief.

His mother squeezed him tight. "Ohhhh, my Sing-Sung, I've been worried sick! But I knew you'd come back! I knew it!"

"Hi Mother."Yunsung mumbled uncomfortably.

"What's the matter?" she asked, lovingly looking up at her taller son.

"Nothin's wrong, Mum."

"No, something's wrong, you have a funny tone about you! Have you been dumped again?"

There was a involuntary but oh-so-familiar jolt in the side of Yunsung's head, "I wish you would stop saying that!"

"Well, sorry, but that always seemed the matter before." she shrugged, still smiling very widely.

Yunsung rested his gaze on her for a few moments. Her features were familiar and it came to him how much his mother looked like him and how much he loved her. He pulled his mother into a more inviting and comforting hug, one that most women, like Talim, seemed to like.

"Eh? What's wrong, honey?" she was politely surprised, but pleased too. Yunsung had rarely hugged her in public voluntarily. She ruffled his hair comfortingly like all mothers do.

"Have you been looking after yourself?"Yunsung found himself asking.

"Oh...well yes of course. It's a bit quiet without you around, but I keep myself going with hobbies and the like." she answered, that surprised highness still in her voice, "Whatever is the matter with you, though? You're very tense."

"Nothing."he changed the subject, "I can't stay long, I'm moving on again..."

"Oh! That reminds me! Did you get it? That sword you were looking for?"

"No."Something firey was heating the bottom of his stomach, "I'm very glad I didn't." he changed topic. "Where's Dad?"

"Oh, he's up in the Dojo, as usual. Go up and see him, he'll be delighted you're back!"

And his father was quite pleased to see him, but Yunsung didn't feel the same feeling towards him as he did his mother. He was feeling as if he had been terribly unfair to women all his life.

"Haha! My son! My son!!!" his father, black haired and with a large jaw, announced jovially, running towards him in his meditation robes, making others turn heads in surprise and endearment- it was rare that Yunsung's father let such emotions go. He gripped Yunsung round his head firmly, "Still got that edge, eh, son?"

"Yeah, Dad."He found he hadn't the energy to tussle with him.

"Something's bothering you." his father said, echoing Yunsung's mother, "But you can sort it, right?"

"Yeah." For once, Yunsung was thankful his father didn't consider himself an expert on family matters. He customarily re-introduced Yunsung with the members of the dojo- they hadn't changed much, except that they were a little politer to him than usual. Then he remembered he had come of age during his time away. To Yunsung's annoyance and guilt, his father pointed out the daughters of the prime members of the dojo- he appeared to realize at least that part of the problem with Yunsung's form was that he'd come home alone.

"Oi!"

Yunsung rolled his eyes before turning around to see a girl with stark, witchy black hair held in artfully half-done braids, making her way towards him. For a moment, Yunsung attempted to think what he could have possibly done now, but realized that is sister's face was of a kind of superiority rather than annoyance.

For a few seconds "Strings"(for her omnipresent hairstyle) simply looked at him, smiling silkily. Then she poked him in the chest, "_You_ swore you would come back with a bride."

"Hullo to you to." Yunsung muttered.

"Aww!"she laughed and hugged him. He was taken aback again, but recalled that his sister was getting older now at sixteen. Strings had held a pathetic promise with him for old time's sake, but she'd hugged him to show she'd genuinely missed him. Yunsung found himself hugging her back almost eagerly.

"Ok, that's enough!" she stuck out her tongue at him teasingly, pulling away.

"I missed you, sis." He smiled.

"Thought I wouldn't hear that! I missed you too, y'know!"she didn't wait for an answer, "Guess what, I'm married!"

"Oh." there was a predictable lurch in his stomach, "Con...Congratulations!"

"Thank you! Oh, Sing-sung, he's lovely!" Strings jumped up and down. "You'd love him too cos he's really into scimitars and he actually makes them at the blacksmith where he works and he gets _such_ a good wage you wouldn't believe..."

Yunsung thought that he should be working at the blacksmith by now, working to earn for the upkeep of him and Talim. Strings, or Martha("Worst. Name. Like, _ever!"_) was only sixteen- true, Yunsung should have been hitched before her- she was only fourteen when he left home. Soul Edge, plus his stupid idiocy for believing in Talim and even after defeating her in battle, had put a stop to any wedding. He hoped he could cancel out those factors somehow.

"...and he has this kinda _yellow_ hair! Seriously, where does _yellow_ hair come from...?"

"Yeah, thanks I get the picture!" Yunsung stopped her, grinning, "You're not doing too badly, then?"

"Oooh, I could _spin!"_she said joyfully, and she sounded convincingly thoughtful.

"You do that."Yunsung laughed.

"I intend to!"but she looked around herself at the large congregation in the Dojo, "But when I get home!"Strings winked, and dashed off.

Yunsung braved the rest of his reintroduction, a little lighter in his heart knowing his sister was doing well. It made him a little more satisfied that he knew another female was happy. He had learned that women were very unique and beautiful things indeed, and should be treasured. There was still the gnawing inside of him which demanded a woman to treasure for life. His journey to find Talim- he needed to be well rested to start the more demanding tasks ahead.

"Right, Dad, I'm off home."he said to his father, "To Mum's, pretty tired, hitting the hay."

"But son, it's barely evening..."he'd not finished showing off his son yet.

"Well, long journey, and I'm setting off tomorrow..."

"You are!?" Yunsung's father looked incredulous, "Heck, out of the cauldron and into the fire! Don't you know what's _out there?"_

"What is it?" but he already had a depressing inkling as to what it was. His father was flabbergasted.

"You _haven't heard??? _The slaying, of entire villages, after just a few precious months of freedom..."

"Yeah, I know, that's what I'm after..."

"Oh _son!"_his father embraced him, "You can't be after the creature! It kills in _seconds!"_

"I've got an advantage. I know how it fights. It's not a _creature_, Dad, it's a poor human being, corrupted by Soul Edge."Everything was finally flooding out of Yunsung at last, "_Yes!_Soul Edge _is_ evil, I could have done nothing with it except kill more Koreans."

Yunsung's father opened his mouth and then closed it. He said after a moment, "That's no reason for you to go after it. You have to start to settle down, get a job, find a wife..."

Yunsung looked his father straight in the eye and said, "Tornado _is_ my wife."

His father gaped.

"Well, I want her to be, anyway..."he muttered, trying to avoid his gaze and get out of the dojo.

"Son!"His father sounded more concerned than Yunsung could ever recall, "Son you can't be serious!"

"Talim is her name. I am going to find her, and tame her, string her up and carry her around if I have to. I'll rip the sword out of her body if I have to!"

"But..."

Yunsung was desperate for him to understand, "I met her, in Autthaya, and I love her, but she went to destroy Soul Edge. We said we'd wait for each other, and fight for the sword...but I guess she got there first...and...well, she doesn't mean to kill, she doesn't know what she's doing, I know it, I know the goodness is still in her...she was a god's gift..."

His father frowned and his face went pale, and his fingers propped up his chin. He gave a shuddering sigh. "There's nothing I can do to stop you, is there?"

Yunsung gave him a defiant look which appeared to dare him to ask again.

His father give Yunsung a third hug in twenty minutes. "Go home, get rested, and do it. Keep yourself alive."

"Thanks."

Yunsung set off, to his old house, where he'd be sheltered among family for perhaps the last time.


	6. Chapter 6: Paper Dreams

Well, sorry about the wait (again) I have been doing exams in school and they smell. But anyway here is chapter 6. It's a bit long, I hope you appreciate it. I like this one! 

Oh, and by the way, one word in this passage makes this chapter a little M-rated, but seriously kids, you gotta know about this stuff.

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Yunsung could still feel his mother's vice-like grip, String's arms around his neck, his father's firm handshake. He strained to forget their words, however comforting:

"Knew it, typical you, can't sit still for two seconds! Still miss ya though, ya big lummox."

"Oooh...oooh... if only we had a little longer! But I'm thankful for this one day. You've got lots going on in that little head of yours. You do us proud, you're getting to be a man now."

"Well, son...see you soon."

His father's final blunt and short words still had charm and resonance with him:he wasn't really that big on feelings, as Yunsung knew too well, there would be no climbing onto _his_ lap after a scuff on his knee. Each and every step on the cobbled road towards the town gates was a step farther away, there was that inkling in his mind, _you can go back, no-one's stopping you, you would be with your family..._

"Guardsman?"

"Yes, sir."The guardsman replied to Yunsung, standing up straight.

"You know Tornado?"

"Not personally, no, sir."He chuckled nervously, "As I'm sure you don't blame me."

Yunsung decided to ignore this, "Do you know where she was last seen?"

"Well, scout says that judging by the numerous...ah..._empty_ villages he's finding, Tornado is heading northwest, sir." the guardsman said with difficulty.

"Right, thank you." Yunsung walked out of the city, trying to force his mind to focus on the problem, something his teachers always used to complain about. As always, his mind wandered, focusing instead on yet more memories of Talim. Now he dwelled on how he'd been so stupid to encourage her. It had been so obvious all along that she was incapable...

oOoOoOo

Whereas Yunsung and Talim going about together usually started as 'coincidence', Talim requested that he meet her today, so they could "do stuff". Yunsung wasn't sure if her vagueness was because she didn't want to tell him what, or...or if it was just her vagueness. Even so, Yunsung enjoyed pondering for while what this "stuff" could be on the way to the meeting place; at one of the benches sat outside the arena.

As he approached the arena, he spotted her on the bench directly in front of him in her lotus position, some yards away. He began to stride towards her, puffing out his chest a little. He was a bit closer when he saw something small and white fall on her head and bounce lightly off again. Another came after a few seconds, and another, each one landing on her head, and the third staying in her hair.

Yunsung stopped. Talim's eyes were closed and she was still a little way ahead of him, so she hadn't noticed him. He looked up.

As he'd expected, he saw two youths; one with ridiculously spiked up hair and a nose that looked recently broken, and another with black, dirty hair with a pointy chin. They were both on what appeared to be the back rows of the arena, which was made of stone and had no roof, so those in the back rows could potentially plummet to a squishy end. The first boy would wrap up a piece of paper, scrunch it up tight, grin stupidly at the other boy, and drop it onto Talim's head. Yunsung stood still for a moment, watching, deciding what to do. After the sixth ball hit Talim's head, he noticed a definitive line appear on her forehead.

"Oi!" Yunsung shouted, striding up towards Talim and staring at the two boys, whose faces slackened. Talim awoke and stood up quickly, her face anxiously looking at him.

"You think you're hard or somethin'?" He roared. The boys threw the pieces of paper at him. "Come down here and do that!" he bellowed, not blinking. Talim tugged on his shirt. She looked at him pleadingly.

"Is this why you met me here?" Yunsung asked quietly, putting his hand on her shoulder, trying to be comforting.

"Oh no, no no!" she said, shaking her head quickly, "Yunsung, please, let's just leave..."

"Wait." he stood his ground, "I want to talk to these guys, ok?"

"No! They didn't mean any harm..."

Yunsung shook his head, "They were bullying you. Something always has to be done."

"No...no they didn't hurt me or anything...they haven't even spoken to me..."

He looked up at the two boys in the stands, jeering at him, still throwing pieces of paper. "Of course they haven't talked to you or hurt you. They saw you fighting the other day. They're cowards."

"Oh, Yunsung, even so, it would be wrong to hurt them!"

"I don't think I have to hurt them." he told her gently, "They just need a talking to."

"Ohhh, I don't like the way you're saying that..."Talim said, and a steely undertone had arisen in her voice, "I think you are going to hurt them after all..."

"Well I don't like..." but he stopped himself.

"What?" she said, softly, "What is it you don't like?"

"...Nothing. Come on, we're going to talk to them."

"Me too?"

"_Yes, _you too!"he said exasperatedly.

He tugged her along and up into the arena, running up the stone steps to meet the two boys. Of course, they scarpered. "See, Talim!" Yunsung pointed impatiently after them as they ran around the edge of the arena "-Cowards!"He shouted after them.

"Good, they've gone away." Talim said quickly, "Let's go.". When she saw him stop and stare at the boys again, she gave his arm a yank, "Come on, Yunsung!"

He was slightly mollified as she led him away, her arm inside his own. It was very comfortable having her much thinner and softer arm inside his. She was guiding him briskly away from the trouble, when girls he'd known before always encouraged him to fight. He smiled a little to himself. _This is what real girls do..._

When they reached the bottom of the stone steps, Talim turned her head to look at him proudly, but gasped, looking in horror over his shoulder.

He turned and could see in the distance that there was only one boy in the opposite end of the stand- the black haired one. Yunsung could see he was bent heavily over the edge, as if grabbing hold of something...

Yunsung took off like a rocket, Talim hot on his tail and eventually taking over him. He had a few seconds to marvel at simply how fast she could run, and her strides were so simple it was as if the wind was pushing her an extra foot with each one. Before long they had climbed the steps at the end of the ring and Talim was heaving the boy with black hair from behind, to help pull. The boy with the broken nose was dangling over the edge of the stone wall, his only support the other youth's arm, his teeth gritted and his eyes wide in desperation and fear of plummeting to his death. Yunsung reached over the edge, took his arm, and lifted the boy up and over the stone wall of the arena, and back into the stands.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Talim sighed rather loudly, but not before Yunsung had pulled the spiky haired boy by his shirt so they were looking face to face. Talim yelped and latched onto Yunsung's arm once again. "No, Yunsung! No!" The boy was sweating and gasping for air, still shaken after dangling over a several metre drop.

"Don't you _ever..."_Yunsung said, deathly quiet, "_ever _do something so _stupid_ again! Or else, I'll make sure even your own mother wouldn't recognize you..."

Talim whimpered his name behind his back.

"You're lucky..." he said derisively, pushing the boy away from him, "If _she_ weren't here..." he pointed at Talim, who was frowning "...you're so lucky...you don't know how _lucky_ you are..."

"Yunsung, we're going, _now!"_Talim thundered. Her voice sounded almost like a teacher dealing with an unruly pupil. Even so, it was the voice of that teacher everyone in school fancied.

With one last fuming stare at the two boys, Yunsung stomped down the stone steps. Talim followed slowly and quietly. As they walked across the arena, Yunsung determinedly not looking behind him, she sighed, "That's over with..."

"_You,_" Yunsung rounded on her, "_You_ have got to start looking out for yourself! That never would have happened there if you had sorted them out before!"

"Oh, please, Yunsung, that had nothing to do with it." she said calmly, walking on beside him and not looking, smiling slightly.

"Why did you even learn to fight if you're just going to stand there and take it??" Yunsung asked vehemently, infuriated that she was smiling at him so carelessly, when he'd only been trying to protect her.

"I just don't believe in fighting when I don't have to..."

"I mean, you could have just walked away from them,"He said indignantly, "but nooo, you just stayed there and got paper in your hair!"

She ruffled her black ponytails ruefully, and a few pieces of the paper detached themselves, "A bit of paper never did anyone any harm..."

"It does inside." Yunsung replied, now striding out of the arena, "It makes you feel weak, unprotected- don't you feel like that?"

"No. I know I'm not weak. I know I'm not unprotected."

"That's not the image you were giving."

"Are you saying I'm weak?" she asked, her voice getting ever softer.

"Yes. Yes I am."" Yunsung retorted angrily.

There was a pause, where there was only the sound of their brisk, powered footsteps. Then Talim rounded around, standing right in front of him and looking up at his face stormily. "I'm many things but I'm not weak!" she said rattlingly.

"Then show me, show me you're not weak!!!" Yunsung shouted into her face. She stared straight back into him, "I'm strong enough not to fight you. I'm not going to bring myself to that level!"

And she turned on her heel and started to walk away. Yunsung walked behind her, still determined to show her how to look after herself. He had a brainwave, "Talim! What are you _doing_ here?"

It was such a peculiar question that she stopped, and turned her head around, as if turning her body was not worth him, "What?"

"Why are you here?" Yunsung asked, "You aren't on holiday, are you?"

"...No." Talim said slowly behind herself, "There is evil in the air." she said anonymously, "The pieces must be returned to their rightful place."

He didn't know what this meant, but he had enough material, "So you're going to fight evil, are you??"

Talim had begun walking again, and he had to jog every few seconds to keep up with her, "You're going to be rightful, and fight evil, right?"

"Yes!" she said impatiently, her strides becoming longer. Yunsung could tell however, that she didn't really want completely rid of him, or else she would be running by now. She half-wanted to listen. "Evil..." Yunsung repeated, " Evil was right there, throwing paper at you! You're the one meant to be standing up to it and dealing with it!!!"

Talim stopped.

Yunsung stopped too, staying at their distance, "Evil people out there aren't going to just throw paper at you. They're going to try and steal from you or kill you...or even rape you!" He could feel the final word penetrating through the air like a poisoned arrow. Talim bristled, her back still to him. "What are you going to do then, huh? Just _sit _there?"

"No. I'm obviously going to fight back."said Talim, and her voice sounded shaky.

"Yeah, but throwing paper is evil too!" said Yunsung, raising his voice a little.

Talim turned around, "It's not! It's not the same thing!" she cried.

"Attack everything at it's source!" Yunsung shouted, "That's military training. It works. Throwing paper, it grows, it manifests. If we hadn't dealt with that...those boys could have done something much worse! Think about it!"

She paused. She didn't look speechless, just defiant. She said to him, her large eyes shaking in their sockets, "Stop following me, Yunsung."

She started to walk away, and after a few seconds, broke into a run towards the inn. Yunsung didn't follow her. He would have to wait until tomorrow to see if his message had gotten through. He looked at the position in the sun in the sky, and kicked a stone in the cobbled road, frustrated. He hated it when he had nothing to do.


	7. Chapter 7: Euphoria

Thanks a bunch to everyone who's reviewed so far! I'm really rather pleased with this chapter so do take time to read and review it if you have the time to!

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Yunsung had been walking north-west for almost twenty miles when he reached a small village. As the guardsman and scout had told him, it looked quite empty. The sight of a village without any people was eerie to him- the wind blew the wooden doors of the houses, their hinges creaking. He stared into the windows to see things like rocking chairs, candle lamps, beds and books, dank and deserted, just sitting there to rot away.

As he walked through the once regularly trodden paths of the town, Yunsung picked up a spear. It's tip was covered in old blood. He threw it down again immediately, disgusted. He couldn't believe someone as fair as Talim could do this. The wrath became yet more visible- torn armor and clothes, broken farming equipment- yet curiously no dead bodies. Then, finally, he saw through a window a candle lamp which was lit.

He walked over to the door of the little house, and tapped it with his knuckle. "Hello? Is anyone in there?"

No answer. Understandable, Yunsung thought.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to ask you something." Yunsung called.

Again, no answer.

"I'm opening the door." Yunsung pushed it open and stepped inside. Then, the candle lamp went out, and darkness surrounded him.

"YEAAAAAAARGGHH!"

Yunsung caught a long pole of wood before it hit him and jerked it free from its holder, then promptly dropped it to duck another, only to reach up and tug it away as well.

"Stop!" he shouted, and withdrew White Storm from his belt. He could hear the villager's distinct intake of breath as they saw the weapon. "Nobody move!"

There was a silence, where he could only hear himself and the villagers panting. As his eyes adjusted, he could see the outline of what looked like three people.

"Now, everybody calm down!" Yunsung breathed; he was still calming down himself, "Tornado- she's been here, is that right?"

Silence.

"I said, is that right???" he repeated, his voice rising.

There was a murmur of assent.

"Right." He took a deep breath, "I need to know if you saw which direction-" he stopped himself. It was useless speaking in the dark. "Someone light that candle-lamp again. Reveal yourselves!"

He heard the sound of a struck match, and a flicker of flame, and the lamp was lit. The faces of the villagers came into view; two women and a man, both dressed in plain, shabby clothing and cowering before him, bunched together.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Yunsung repeated pacingly, "I just want to know where Tornado was headed."

They didn't speak, just looking at him fearfully.

"Please! Just tell me!" He said impatiently.

There was more silence, then, the smallest woman spoke in a whisper, "We don't know, sir. She came, had her fill, and left." she said bluntly, soullessly, "We hid until the battle was over...we didn't see anything...we could only hear..."

She trailed off, the soft echo of her voice fading away.

"...Right." Yunsung repeated. They had nothing to tell him, but he didn't feel right leaving them staring at him in fear, having caused such a disturbance. "So...so how many of your people are left?"

The man spoke in a sad, broken voice, "Only five. Two are in the house across the road."

Yunsung nodded. He paused for thought, and as he did he felt an overwhelming sympathy for the people as well as an aching guilt. He had to somehow repay Talim's misdeeds.

"You all...you all have to get out of here." Yunsung said slowly.

The people remained silent.

"It's dangerous here. Bandits could come, or Talim...Tornado could return! There's a port south-east of here- it's a big town, well protected, you could find work there. You'll live safely there."

"But what's the point in living?!" The second woman burst out, "My family is gone! My children...my husband..."

"I..." Yunsung said helplessly, "I'm sorry...I..."

"We've grown up living here!" the man said in his harsh voice, "We've lost...everything. We can't just move on like nothing happened!"

"I'm sorry, I just..." he said weakly, his voice fading, "I...just don't know what to do..."

A sad silence fell, and Yunsung stared at the ground, feeling more useless than he'd ever felt ever. The second woman cried softly in the corner. Then, the first woman walked over to Yunsung, her lifeless face coming into view, and put her bony arms around him, saying, "You poor boy. You poor dear sweet boy. Bless your soul."

He didn't know what to do but just let him hug her- it was something she appeared to need, after all. Then she stepped back, and fixed her hair, and brushed down her plain overall. "Right then, son, you show us where to go."

The other two made incomprehensible noises of protest, but the woman waved them away.

"No-no, the boy's right. We need to move on to some degree." She turned to Yunsung, hands on hips, "Well don't just sit there gaping at me, boy, tell us what we do!"

For Yunsung's mouth had fallen open in awe at the woman, and he realized, that this was what true bravery was. He felt strength rise from the impossible pit which had formed in his stomach. "Right, first of all, scour the village and get any supplies you can- break into the houses if you have to. Bring a weapon or something to defend yourself. Get the other two, and you all follow the path to the south-east. It's about twenty miles- you'll see the town about half-way."

"Okay, got it." The woman said, and to his even greater surprise, smiled at him, "Right, ladies, you heard him, move out! Food, water, weapons, get them! And you, young one!" she turned to Yunsung, and whispered, "Nip her in the butt for us, will you?"

He nodded.

"Alright then." she said, and swept him out of the house in front of her. The three villagers stepped out behind him. "Off you go!" the woman commanded to Yunsung. He smiled widely and saluted her. The second woman cried tearfully, "Goodbye, young boy!" and the man shouted, but with a more dulcet tone, "Bye, kid." Yunsung's astonishment turned to a kind of elatedness as he strode out of the hamlet, the moon shining brightly along his path. Somehow, he felt, it was all going to be alright.


	8. Chapter 8: Nostalgia

Merry Christmas everyone! I got an Ipod, and so, yeah I've been pretty distracted with it. But here we are, another chapter, shiny and new, and shiny! And new! But anyway, HERE IT ISS, BRAND NEW CHAPTER, EVERY-BODY'S HAVING FUN...

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"Minaaaaaa!!!!!"

Yunsung charged towards the north gate of Ayutthaya, pulling an outrageous face and clawing the air like a monster upon sight of his half-friend half-nuisance Mina. She didn't look quite herself- he could see that she was holding herself differently, bent over slightly as if downhearted. Nevertheless, she gave a small smile as he administered a crushing hug to her spine.

"Get...off...me...you...ass!"she breathed, finally breaking out of his hug.

"Mina!" Yunsung shouted gleefully again.

"S'm'name." she said uneventfully, "You look happy!"

"What 'choo doin' here?" he asked, and poked her lightly on the nose, "And _you_ don't look happy!".

"I'm not."

"Why? Why so _sad?"_he laughed, clipping her chin softly with his knuckle.

"My boyfriend hit me, if you must know." she said very quickly. As Yunsung stared at her, registering it as the truth, and she shrugged like she did if she had failed a meaningless test way back at school. "Oh." Yunsung said blankly, thinking hard.

She sighed again and began to wander, swinging a small leather bag she had in her hand to and fro, staring at the ground for some kind of sympathy. "It's OK, though. I think he realized his mistake once his arm wasn't working any more..." she still looked quite sad. Yunsung, who was never good with feelings, wasn't sure how to react or what to say. It was more difficult with Mina, who was very good at snappy retorts, and might respond wrongly to whatever he tried to convey. He could always match her though, and with that in mind, he slung his arm across Mina's shoulders, which were level with his.

Fortunately, yet unexpectedly, she stepped a little closer to him. She took hold of his hand on her shoulder, and pulled it down her chest so she could hold it. She made a comforted noise which Yunsung had never heard before. It also made her seem more girl-y than he had ever seen her.

"Ah, dear, how interesting." he said monotonically, "Who's a little baby now...?"

"Shut up, Yunn." she said, a croak appearing in her voice, "Can't you see? I'm not in the mood."

"Sure, he hit you, but you tore his arm up." he said earnestly, "He got his comeuppance. You don't have to care about him anymore."

He heard her sniff, "I didn't _want_ to cut his arm up..."And he knew he'd taken things a bit too far.

Yunsung pulled her around into his shoulder and put his arms around her, something he'd rarely done except if he was teasing her, and something she would have usually tried with him, for to only get shoved away. She was unusually accepting, pulling her bag around his back with her arms, so they were in their first true, meaningful hug in the whole of their fifteen-year friendship. Yunsung, who was feeling a tad uncomfortable, heard her mutter, "I love you, Yunsung. I love you loads"

"Eugh." he laughed quietly, but not letting her go.

"Yunsung, you ever thought of loving me?" she asked, looking up at him and grinning softly.

He thought briefly, "Yes. Once." he declared, "I promptly threw up."

"Ha! Good stuff!" she punched his chest and he let go. She kissed him on the cheek roughly, and he with one sharp swipe wiped it with his hand. "So, what _are_ you doing here?"

"Oh, well, just had nothing to do I guess, and I couldn't live at home any more, so I came here to look for a nice guy. Hmm..." she was staring over at a group of boys.

Yunsung was very glad Mina wasn't looking so downhearted and was already moving on. It really wasn't like her to be so emotional- it was usually him throwing over chairs and upturning tables when he was upset, and usually her who came to try and calm him down.

As they walked side by side, Mina glancing over at the group of boys and winking each time one of them caught her eye, Yunsung caught an eye as well. A large, brown, reddened eye.

"I've got to go sort something here." he said hurriedly to Mina.

"Mm? Oh ok!" She said distractedly, delivering another wink.

Yunsung walked briskly towards Talim, and, surprisingly to him at least, she ran away from him, darting through the crowds filling the streets that morning. He charged after her, "Scuse me, sorry, coming through..." She reached the end of the crowd and went around the side of a building. However, her graceful but quick pace didn't show that day, and she ran awkwardly, so Yunsung could grab her arm and pull her, pressing her into the stone wall of the building.

"No! No, let me go!" she cried, struggling ineffectively.

"Stop wasting your breath!" Yunsung shouted in her face savagely, "Look at you!" he indicated her feeble arms pushing against his hands, "You _are _weak, Talim!"

"I'm not weak!" she protested, "I'm not!"

"Then stop acting like...like a _girl_ and fight back!"

She stopped struggling, and looked at him for a second, her eyes hawk-like and looking more venomous than he'd ever seen her. Then, he felt a kick in the stomach, enough for him to move backwards slightly, yet enough for her to run her feet _up_ his body, hooking her knees on his shoulders. He let go of her arms in surprise, and she pulled them back, and bunched them, and in a tremendous effort, put her feet under his armpits and lifted both of their bodies completely off the ground. They flipped once in mid air, then Yunsung's entire chest and stomach collided painfully with the pavement, Talim smashing down afterwards on the small of his back.

He literally couldn't get up- he felt like one of his back bones was lodged deep into his pelvis and refused to budge. Even when Talim got up, he could only lie there, aching. She sat down beside his head calmly, and sat herself in such a way as to show she wouldn't be getting up to help him.

"I'm not weak." she repeated quietly.

"I knew that." Yunsung groaned.

Her voice suddenly changed to a more dangerous kind of whisper, "I saw you with her. The brown-haired girl. Holding her. She kissed you too. How many other girls have you been going about with, huh?"

"She's not my girlfriend." Yunsung croaked. He was finding extremely difficult to retort in such a defenseless position.

"Really..." she sighed sarcastically.

"Erm...what's going on?"

Yunsung craned his neck and saw that Mina was peering into the alleyway. He couldn't be sure if she'd been there the whole time or not.

"Mina!" Yunsung gasped, "Back me up here! Tell her you're not my girlfriend!"

She gazed at Talim for a moment, as if wondering what exactly she could say to someone who could leave Yunsung defenseless on the ground. Then she said, still staring, "I'm not his girlfriend."

Yunsung quite expected Talim to stop herself and release him, saying sorry. What he didn't expect was Talim standing up and looking Mina straight in the eye, as if she'd very much like to put her in the same position he was in.

A small, delicate smile formed on Mina's lips. "I say, what's your name, little girl?"

Talim stared up at Mina, who towered over her, "Don't push me."

"Erm, a little help here?" Yunsung called, who was getting quite impatient now. Both the girls turned, and began to walk to his aid, then stopped once they saw each other move.

"I will help him." Talim muttered stiffly.

Mina blinked slowly, "Fine."

Talim walked over and stood on Yunsung's tail bone. He felt something snap into place, and let out of a groan of relief, "Oh, thank God!" He heaved himself to his feet, his muscles numbed slightly. As he adjusted, he came to realize the edgy silence between the girls; they were both watching him, and at the same time watching each other, waiting for him to make the next move.

"Um..." Yunsung scratched the back of his head, feeling awkward., "Umm..." he had to say something to stop them staring. So he spoke exactly what was on his mind.

"O-kay...you're a psycho..."he pointed to Talim, "and you're a cold, hard punk-ass bitch..."he pointed at Mina. They stared at him, and he noticed that their eyebrows raised.

"And, um..." Yunsung added hastily, "Those are two things I really _really_ like in girls..."

In the quiet, Talim and Mina simultaneously exited their tenuous stances and looked anywhere but at Yunsung. Mina began to swing her leather bag again.

"Um...Did I say something wrong?" he asked quietly, getting uncomfortable.

"No!" cried Talim, out of the blue, and ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck, "No! You said it all right!"

Yunsung was surprised and staggered backwards, almost expecting another attack, and was just as surprised when he realized what it actually was. The wisps of Talim's deeply intertwined hair brushed raggedly against his neck as she squeezed him tight. He put his arms around her body cautiously, across the bare, mostly uncovered skin on her back. He only just resisted the urge to rub. Over Talim's shoulder, he saw Mina smile and walk over slowly, and put her hand on his head and through his hair. "I _am_ a punk-ass bitch."

"And I'm a psycho!" Talim said tearfully at his shoulder, and Yunsung felt a wet dab on his neck.

"Good." He said, still quite confused, "That's sorted then."

Talim had to be told to let go of Yunsung's neck. When she did, she poked him in the chest, "Well, you've learned your lesson, haven't you!" Yunsung said yes, he certainly had. He was never going to hug Mina again!


	9. Chapter 9: Time to play!

**CAUTION:** This is an M-rated chapter for gore, violence, disturbing images and foul language. This is where the Horror classing comes from! This is it. This. Is. Tornado.

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Yunsung met many more derelict of villages as he journeyed with precious little rest. In each one, he searched out the people, and, often with a little persuasion needed, encouraged them to head towards the port. The damage was progressively worse as he headed further along- doors and windows completely smashed in, furniture in bits and pieces everywhere, and metal equipment bent and broken as if they were elastic and splinters. The people were more and more broken- he once found a poor woman, rocking in a chair, singing softly to her baby who had died from starvation, eyes looking like they could fill oceans- Yunsung would never forget how it felt to take the child away, and tell the woman it was dead. He would never forget the man who just kept smiling and walking endlessly in ever-decreasing circles. He would never forget the child who ran up to him and screamed, "DADDY!"- for he was the only man left there.

As much as these moments disturbed, frightened and saddened him, sometimes to tears, Yunsung kept going, knowing that he was responsible, knowing that more people would be killed with every second he hesitated, knowing he was probably the only one who could stop the raging Tornado.

But it didn't stop the cold blood of fear filling his veins when he heard screams, of man, woman and child, filling the air, and the horrible roar like some ferocious animal piercing the air. Yunsung could only run as fast as he could, his breathing ever higher in his chest, lead weights fast appearing in his muscles. And when he reached the stone arch, he found what he was looking for.

He instantly recognized the white trousers from behind, and her matt of black hair and pony tails. But her whole back and neck had been mutilated by a fierce red and silver coating of spikes, flaming all the way up and across her back, until it stopped and shortened around her neck, which, every few seconds, dissapeared from view as the creature threw back it's head and roared, guttural and booming, letting everyone in the vicinity know that another man was about to be reaped.

As Yunsung started forward, he watched her arms, gripping two tonfa blades, fiercely intent on coating the blades with yet more blood. The victim screamed in pain as he was ripped limb from limb. Tornado sounded like she was breathing through her saliva, heavily, ghoulishly gasping with relief as she took pleasure in the the havoc she was wreaking.

Yunsung charged, "WRRRRAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHH!", he wrenched out White Storm and held it up, preparing to attack- it was then he remembered he was going to have to use muscle to out do her, since he didn't intend to kill her. He approached the raging beast and was about to jump to push her off the man, when as soon as she was there- she wasn't!

He screeched to a halt. He was only confronted by the mutilated corpse of the man, his intestines splashed across his own body, his entire torso ripped open and his bloody ribcage bare and hideous. Yunsung staggered- he didn't want to fall on top of him. Where had she gone?

_She moved so fast, it was like the wind!_

Yunsung spun around, flinging out White Storm in front of him, where it clanged loudly against Tornado's tonfa blades. She grinned from between them, drooling, insane. The second in which their blades caught together was enough for Yunsung to decide how much his girlfriend had been destroyed.

Her entire face was splashed with blood, and it appeared that every inch of skin on it was cut in some way, fresher, darker blood ever streaming from them. Her eyebrows had dissapeared, and what was beneath them shocked Yunsung the most. One eye, her left, was big and brown as usual, except it was deeply dilated, so she looked even more insane. Her right eye was encrusted around the edges with the same firey spikes as on her back, and a trail of them leaded round the right of her face and down to where the back left off. The eye was shrunken, with most of it white and an unnaturally small iris. Below, her nose was the only part which was relatively the same. Her mouth was slack, drooling, yellow teeth bared at Yunsung, and her once pink lips were heavily chewed back and raw.

It was only a second, and Tornado threw him back, and landed another strike on his sword, and another, him only just blocking each time. Her speed was phenomenal- it was like a machine, striking over and over and over again with exactly the same brutal power. She laughed, and the sheer sound of it confused and horrified Yunsung's brain. It was loud and guttural, broken like a man, with a barely noticeable and yet rather dominant-feminine undertone. Yunsung's wrist twisted backwards painfully with every blow White Storm took for him, as he frantically thought of some tactic he could use to defeat this now seemingly impossible force.

"_Don't push yourself there darling!"_she screamed.

"W-what?"Yunsung whispered shakily as he heard their blades clash again. She couldn't be wind-reading _at the same time_, surely?

"Don't worry, son, we'll help you!"he heard about five sets of feet trampling towards him.

"N-no!" Yunsung shouted, desperately, because he had just realised he couldn't take another death. He had to defeat her, he couldn't let her kill anyone else! But it was too late, the soldiers approached them in gleaming white armour. He saw Tornado smile gleefully and backflip away, so the soldiers stood in between her and Yunsung. _"aaiieee-aaaa!"_she screamed as her cartwheel assault came. The soldiers were like skittles, falling over instantly in the speed at which she hit them. Yunsung thrusted his shoulder forward, his feet well set into the ground. His shoulder collided hard into her jaw.

"_Oh no..."_ she whispered, her mouth hanging open, blood spewing from in between her teeth, _"Yunsung..."_she kneeled onto the ground in front of him, staring up at him with her offset eyes. _"How could you do that...?"_

It was an insult to Talim, and an insult to everything he'd ever taught her. Yunsung was blinded with rage as he threw his foot right into her face. "Don't you give me that shit!"

She sprang back to her feet and, suddenly, her face was right next to his, bloody and awful, redness drooling from her mouth, and so angry it was terrifying, _"AH, I GIVE YOU SHIT, LITTLE BOY? HUH? HOW MUCH SHIT CAN YOU TAKE, LITTLE BOY?"_

Yunsung head-butted her in the face savagely- he didn't care. "Eat it off the ground, you bitch!"

She didn't fall- she whipped her tonfas at his face, but he was way ahead of her, and the deafening clang rang into his ears, "You're so _predictable_, Talim."

"_DON'T CALL ME BY THAT NAME, _STUPID_ HUMAN!"_she roared, and latched her tonfas on his sword, swung and kicked Yunsung in the stomach, sending him flying, and his arms and body scraped painfully against the cobbled ground, and the people's screams as the blow hit rung in his ears. He was winded, and he'd only started getting up when Tornado's tonfas were pointing in his face.

She laughed like a maniac, and raised her tonfas. Yunsung was helpless. "_Now it is time for..."_

But, she jerked forward as six ghastly squelching thuds filled the suddenly still air. Yunsung knew those sounds too well- they were the sounds of arrows piercing someone's thighs. Tornado's legs wobbled, but she stayed standing, and grinned at him repulsively. She coughed blood onto the ground. Seizing his chance, he flipped White Storm around in his hand and smashed the handle into the side of her head.

She wobbled, her legs slipping sideways, falling lower, but she shook off the blow. Yunsung did it again. And again. She coughed dryly and painfully, a pool of red liquid appearing below her. Her pupils wandered and wobbled in her eye sockets, and fixed on his face. She smiled crazily at him, and finally slumped down onto the ground, falling on her own blood. Unconscious or dead, Yunsung didn't know.


	10. Chapter 10: Disturbed

Sorry folks, school's back, so I haven't been able to write much. But I have managed put together this chapter just for you, my dearies. 

**Caution: **This is a rather HIGH T rated chapter, like a 15+. It contains bad language and slight sexual activity. That is, there is no sex in this...but it has words relating to it and related actions. What do you expect from the 'daughter of Satan?'

Edit:Some badly needed spelling changes. Do point them out to me next time!

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Yunsung had to guard Tornado's body from the spear men who charged forward as soon as she was down, to make sure she was dead. When they refused to retreat, Yunsung took out White Storm and roared, "YOU WON'T TOUCH HER!". Him having the power to have distracted Tornado for so long made him look so impressive that they backed away quite quickly. Yunsung issued demands- for food, a bucket, lots of rope, a backpack, and other supplies- he found he had a ready-made list in his head. The people demanded to know _why_ they should meet the demands, and he completely lost it. He just vented a huge amount of rage upon them, screaming, "I JUST FUCKING SAVED _YOUR LIVES!_" and numerous other insults aimed at the intelligence of the people.

Eventually, when Yunsung had stopped, one of the soldiers issued an order to a peasant, and the backpack, supplies and rope came. "Thank you." he grunted irritably, "We will be leaving now." and he picked up Talim's seemingly lifeless body, threw it over his shoulder, and exited the village without a backwards glance.

Yunsung carried Talim (who was a dead weight) to a stream surrounded by trees. No-one could find them there unless they were having a real explore, so he set Talim down and examined her.

Unbelievably, she was alive and breathing. He was able to examine her much better now. The plumes which used to cover her arms were gone, so they were bare and cut deeply in several places, making Yunsung wonder how on earth she could fight at all. The front half of the green strip covering her bosom was (thankfully yet in a bizarre way) fused with the Soul Edge cut into her back, so she remained decent. The parts of her legs her shorts didn't cover were scarred, and her long green socks had dissapeared completely, leaving only her worn plimsolls.

Yunsung fetched a bucket of water, took a cloth, and began to wash her, all along her arms, her face, her legs, stomach and neck, until she looked almost human. He wrenched out the arrows sticking into her thighs with a pen-knife. He sat back and admired his work. She was insane, cut and bloodied, and had metal sticking out of her back...but she was still Talim...

She began to stir. Yunsung quickly picked up some more rope and tied it around and around her stomach and chest, and around the tree, and tied it in a perfect knot. He sat in front of her, making sure he was a decent way away from her, and waited for her to awaken.

"_Is Satan calling me?"_she growled.

"Nope."

Her eyes snapped open. She looked at him once, then looked around her. She looked at the ropes. Predictably, she pulled as hard as she could.

"Good luck." Yunsung said dully, watching her strain ineffectively.

Tornado pulled until she was red in the face. After what seemed like minute of struggling, Tornado fell back, sighing. Then she looked at Yunsung again. She smiled in the same way a cat looks upon it's prey.

"_I like this game."_she said deeply.

"Know what?" said Yunsung, and a very devlish thought came to mind "I do too. You look very beautiful from here."

Her eyebrows lowered, and she looked completely repulsed. It was Yunsung's turn to smile.

"_Get on with it, then."_she said.

"Get on with what?" Yunsung asked, still smiling at her.

"_Ah...so it's torture is it?" _she showed all her yellow teeth, _"I like that."_

"Yup." he said, placing his forefingers on his chin, crossing his legs, and staring at her. They sat there looking at her for two minutes, smiling. Yunsung wasn't going to be the one to look away first.

Then Tornado began to do something very strange. She started to cross her thighs very tightly, and thrusting her bottom body in and out. Of course, Yunsung knew that it obviously wouldn't get her free. It puzzled him.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked.

"_When does the intercourse begin?"_she said plainly.

He blinked, and Tornado's own eyes lit up, beginning to dilate, a gleeful look on her face at his discomfort. Yunsung watched with difficulty as her pupil swelled to disproportion.

"What are you talking about?" Yunsung asked, still not getting her.

Her eyebrows raised expectantly, _"Aren't you going to rape me?"_

Yunsung paused, the words not quite penetrating his head. He was utterly confused. She looked very mad, but with a very false smile._"Are you _not_ going to rape me?"_she asked again sweetly.

"N-no!" Yunsung said stupidly.

"_Oh goody!" _she said, and widened her legs and thrusted her pelvis towards him. Now it was Yunsung who was repulsed.

"I don't know what you are on, Talim, but-"

"_DO NOT CALL ME BY SUCH A NAME!"_she roared unexpectedly, glaring at him through hawk-eyes.

"I'll call you what I like as long as you're in those ropes." Yunsung said pacingly, and finally understood what she had been saying, "I did not capture you to rape you, either."

"_But I have such a good-" _Yunsung fiercely did not allow her next word to enter his mind, "I don't care what you have. Shut up, Talim. I'll have sex with you when you're sane."

She glared at him again when she heard her name. Then she made a grunt like a sulky child, _"Oh bother! I was looking forward to it..."_

"Yeah, well, tough." said Yunsung thickly. He was thinking hard though. What _was_ he to do to her now he had her captured. The idea had been to defeat her and tame her again, but as long as Soul Edge was present, it seemed next to impossible to get any better behaviour out of her. He would have to travel and find something which could remove the tainted metal out of her body- if Talim had intended to destroy it, then surely she must have known how...

Tornado squeezed her legs together forcefully. "Would you _please_ stop doing that?" said Yunsung, distracted.

"_But I have so much _juice _in me..."_she said aromatically.

"Don't talk like that, Talim. Speak like a lady."

Tornado took a deep breath and began to say every expletive word she could name.

"Stop! STOP!" Yunsung shouted desperately. It was so wrong to see what once was a girl who looked like she wouldn't swear to save her life, saying all the most horrible things under the sun.

"_Awww ,did I hurt your feelings?"_Tornado teased, saying the 'c' word continuously at him.The one which ended with a 't'.

"Shut the hell up!" Yunsung said angrily.

"Make me." she said happily.

So Yunsung ended up gagging her. The least he had to endure was her venomous glances and her wrenching legs, and when she started moaning into the cloth, Yunsung turned around completely and stuck his fingers into his ears. To his own surprise, he felt tears welling up in his eyes. She was less broken with six arrows sticking into her legs.


	11. Chapter 11: Two left feet

Ok folks, the last couple of chapters have been pretty nasty, so you might (or might not) be relieved that we're back to T rated, or possibly even K+ rated material for this chapter. Thanks for all your reviews- it really gives me delight when I come home to a brimming inbox full of helpful and friendly comments.

Well, here we go, Chapter Eleven! Oh, and I probably should mention that this story should be about 20 chapters long. It's good to set a goal like that- you gotta have your limits!

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Yunsung effectively "packed" Talim up so he could continue his journey. He knocked her out again, as much as he hated himself for doing so, then he tied her up completely, around the ankles, body and arms, so he could pick her up and carry her on his back without her getting free. Of course, she was extremely heavy, along the with the bucket and backpack, but Yunsung could rest more freely now that he had stopped Tornado. Already, he felt as if part of his mission was over- no-one else was being killed, at least.

He had considered, with pain, killing Tornado. It would bring an end to all the problems quickly, and he would be able to go home and see his family. How he missed them. And Mina- he found himself missing her immensely.

But no. He would continue. Talim knew how to destroy Soul Edge when she set out, so there must be a way to destroy it. So he carried Tornado onwards, ignoring the suspicious looks of passers-by. He had to walk around every town to avoid questioning. After traveling for ages, he stopped and set up camp again as night was falling. He had reached nowhere, and he had no idea where he was going.

Tornado jerked out of her sleep. She stared around. _"There are no people here."_

"Nope." said Yunsung shortly.

"_Hmm...I require sustenance."_she said, licking her lips. Then, unexpectedly, she strained on the ropes again. Yunsung watched her dully. She gave up after one pull, _"You are very good at this. I see my legs are tied as well."_

"Of course."

"_Of course."_ she repeated gutturally and in a more defeated voice.

Yunsung welcomed the silence which followed. It gave him time to think back, to his last proper conversation with Talim- had she given him any clues...?

oOoOoOo

"Good morning, Psycho!"

Talim groaned. "Yunsung, I told you yesterday, about fifteen million times, I'm sorry for acting like a psycho!" she took a deep, long-suffering breath, "So _please_ stop calling me that!"

"But it's fun!" Yunsung said jovially, sitting down beside Talim in the arena, where she had been meditating. It was a clear, still day, a couple of small gray clouds floated across the sky, but there was not real threat of rain yet. The sun shone rather weakly at them. Talim groaned again, shaking her head, and closed her eyes, leaning her elbows on her tightly crossed knees.

"Aww!" Yunsung put his hand on her head and stroked her temple with his thumb. It was very soft to the touch. "Am I pushing your little Shaman patience?"

She gave a very deep sigh, and looked at the gravel which lined the arena, an tentative, sad frown forming on her lips. She ran her finger distractedly through the stones, thoughtful.

"What's the matter?" asked Yunsung, feeling like he had asked that too many times recently. Something seemed to be the matter with everyone but him. When Talim didn't answer to him, he, cautiously, shifted up beside her and put her arm around her shoulders. "Hmm?" he asked, trying to sound comforting. He was already getting an urge to gently push her soft head into his chest.

"Seeing you so happy is making it so much harder to say what I have to say." Talim said rapidly, in one breath. Yunsung allowed her some silence, so she could prepare herself to say what she wanted- he always hated it when someone kept talking when he was saying something important. She took another breath, and said, her voice a little croaky, "Y'know, how I said, I could wind-read?"

"Mm-hm?"

"Well, I listen to the wind and it tells me what to do." she said, her voice a little stronger, "It brought me here, and it's been telling me to stay here these past few days..."

"Right."

"And...now it's told me to move on," she said, looking at him nervously, waiting for a reaction. He only nodded thoughtfully, not looking at her, but waiting for more information, "And...so I have to go..."she trailed off, and her voice trembled and broke.

Yunsung nodded again- he wasn't sure what this meant to him. He would surely miss her, but there was still something which made this feel quite minor- that there was a deeper meaning to all of this. He asked her something, and his voice sounded much lower than usual: "Where are you going?"

"Um..."Her voice had gotten quiet and a little shaky, "G-Germany..."

Yunsung blinked and sat up. Talim braced herself instantly and started to speak very fast again.

"Yunsung, I know it's very far away but I'm going on a very important-"

"Shush!" he hushed her, "It's not that! It's just that...well...I was planning on going to Germany too..." It was to him an incredible stroke of luck, and she appeared to be feeling the same way.

"You were?" she goggled at him, her eyes getting very wide and shiny, looking astonished.

"Yeah...I was thinking...of trying to get the Sword of Salvation..."

"...oh my..." Talim whispered, putting her hand to her mouth in shock, and staring at him, pupils quivering. Then she quickly and unexpectedly pulled around and in front of him and grabbed hold of both his shoulders, so they were facing each other;Yunsung's arm across her shoulders fell limply. She said very seriously, "Yunsung, the sword you speak of is a very evil sword! A sword which corrupts it's holder and forces them to..."

But she fell silent at the look on Yunsung's face. His almond eyes were boring right into her, and she seemed to have realized that he'd had this conversation before.

"Wh...Why..?" Talim asked, shaking her head.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Yunsung said, shrugging her hands off his shoulders, unpleasant memories he'd rather forget piling up in his head once more, "I've had my own friends say that stuff to me, and I lost them. But they didn't stop me. I don't think you can do it either."

"I understand." she said, nodding silently. They said nothing for a few seconds. There had been no mega-argument which Yunsung would have expected to arise. He asked, "Then...Talim, what happens to me and you?"

"I don't know..."she said, shrugging her shoulders helplessly, her hands held together and on her lap.

Yunsung's mind started searching for some way, somehow they could maintain their friendship, some kind of loophole, something that would make them remain with each other. They could go to Germany together, but with different plans in mind? It wouldn't seem likely that they would get along- more so that they would keep bugging each other about their arguments for and against The Sword of Salvation. It was likely that Talim would be one of those people who wanted to destroy it.

"Yunsung..." Talim said tentatively, "I may have a sort of..._plan._"

He looked up at her, "Fire away." he said lowly. He didn't have any ideas, after all.

"What if we split up here...one of us go by sea and another by land. Then we meet up at Oster...O-ser...wherever the sword is and...wait..." she said this sheepishly, "for each other, and when the other gets there...we...um..."

"Fight for it?"Yunsung asked.

"Yeah!"she said, forcing a smile. "I'll beat you though."

"Of course."he said, rolling his eyes, "But I can train you up, just in case."

"I'll train you up, so you can have at least a small chance." decided Talim, folding her arms, and suddenly looking very happy, as if that had gone a lot better than it could have went.

"Right, when do you have to leave?"

"Tomorrow would be best." she replied, smiling in spite of it.

"Ok, I'll teach you a few moves." he began, "We can have a couple of practices and..."

"Don't forget spiritual strength, that's important too! I'll teach you how to let the wind aid you in battle!"

"I can teach you a couple of things about how to take blows..."

"I can teach you how to read your opponents next move..."

And so the 'great teaching' began. Yunsung couldn't help laughing when Talim tried a karate kick- she had never done a kick so high in a different direction before, and was used to keeping her body straight, so she fell right over. And she was rolling on the ground with pain when they played, "Punch me, punch you."- a favorite strength training game of Yunsung's. But then there was several instances where Yunsung fell flat on his face- Talim could duck and dodge every blow he tried to hit her with. This led to him calling her 'half-pint', upon which she left him flat on his back and helpless again, and tickled him to death before freeing him. And he chased Talim half-way around the arena when she tried to teach him how to pirouette- she just couldn't stop giggling. Eventually though, a portion of their exhaustive roster of moves were mastered by each.

When the night came they returned to the inn for some well-deserved shut-eye before their journey began. But it appeared that neither of them could sleep, because Yunsung sensed Talim sneaking into his room, and planting something wet on his cheek.


	12. Chapter 12: Ask a Ninja

After traveling several long miles with Tornado on his back, who constantly cursed him and asked for 'stimulation', Yunsung decided to take a break. He tied Tornado firmly against a tree and gagged her. The tree was beside a large bush, so she was almost completely hidden by it's leaves. He told her that he was leaving to get a drink, and he would be back soon. She made no reply, either unable to or unwilling to co-operate in any way.

They had set up camp in an evergreen forest fairly near a small town, and Yunsung stopped in there to visit the local bar. It felt so good to be walking into a bar again without the added load of Tornado on his back or thoughts of Talim's whereabouts bugging him. He suddenly realized how lonely he'd been since he started the journey- he hadn't had interaction with an intelligent human being for quite a while now. He chatted amicably with the barman as a result, cracking old jokes and laughing- and a surge of pride filled his heart as he did so. He hadn't laughed in ages...

He felt a strange nostalgic feeling as he once again noticed a black-haired woman in peculiar dress in the bar. Her features were much different to Talim's however; her eyes were like that of a Japanese woman, and her face looked more mature and slightly older. Her hair was long and in a ponytail. She wore a white, gold and black outfit; armour plates were on her arms and shoulders, and an elaborately decorated and well fitting martial arts top. Her legs were bare below it until the middle of the thigh, where it joined with long armoured legs and boots. Across her back were two scabbards, and inside, Yunsung knew, were two small blades. She was a ninja.

She was drinking a shot with a very concentrated look on her face. Her small eyes made her look confident. Unexpectedly, she drowned the shot in one, and sat completely still for a few seconds- Yunsung tried this once and nearly burnt his throat. Then she slammed the small glass on the table and commanded the barman, "Another!" she said in a strong, ringing voice.

The barman served her with mild surprise. "So..." said the woman, surveying the barman closely, "There has been no sign of Tornado?"

"No, ma'am." said the barman, who had looked vulnerable under her stare, but couldn't help breaking into a smile, "It's a miracle."

She made a derisive grunt, "The emperor won't believe that." She swirled the green liquid in it's glass, "I'm probably out of a job."

"'Least you're not dead." said the barman.

"I will be if i return empty-handed." the woman snarled, "He wants the shards off her back."Yunsung made an involuntary jolt and choked on his beer- she'd just reminded of him of something he told his dad before he left: _I'll rip the sword out of her if I have to!_. She turned to him, as if just noticing he was there, "Are you alright?"

"Yes!" Yunsung coughed.

She turned back to the barman, oddly disregarding that Yunsung had been eavesdropping, "I am quite sure, sir, than Tornado has _not_ been killed. Only I have the weapon to destroy the tainted blade."

"You and everyone in this bar!" said the barman, laughing. Yunsung was thinking along the same lines.

Yet the woman smiled in a superior sort of way, "But those are all tales. I have no tales to tell. There was no heroics in what I have done. I have the weapon."

"Oh really?" said the barman, shaking his head, like he'd heard this several times before, "Ok, where is it? Oh wait! You left it at home didn't you?" he barked with laughter, "Or...or maybe you aren't allowed to take it out for a special reason, eh?" he laughed again, however, he stopped when he saw the cold look on the woman's face. He stepped a little closer to her, leaning on the bar counter, "You're really serious, aren't you?"

The woman said nothing. She just reached upwards and took hold of one of the handles in the scabbards on her back. She pulled, and out came a shining, blue blade, of a magnificence Yunsung had never seen. It sparkled against the light, and was smooth, but the edge was visibly sharp.

"Now that is some knife..."said the barman thoughtfully.

"You didn't see anything. Neither did you." she said suddenly, turning to Yunsung, who took a bit of a fright- he hadn't realized he'd been staring so closely and not even bothering to keep his head down during the conversation. He turned back to his beer again quickly. His mind had started racing..._this was it! This was how to destroy Soul Edge!..._but Yunsung still had to make sure. He took a deep breath, gathered all his nerve, and turned to ask the woman.

"Um, madam..." he said tentatively. She turned her small eyes to him, and he watched them distractedly for a moment as they scanned him, "Well...where'd you get those knives?"

She blinked at him slowly. Then she cleared her throat impatiently, "I have no time for idle chat. I am thinking."

"I'm serious, madam..." Yunsung went on nervously, "Are...are they the only two of those knives you can get?"

"I doubt your blacksmith could carve them, boy." she said, and there was a definitive derogatory tone arising in her voice. It annoyed Yunsung immensely- it was a tone he heard often in front of him- and decided to push straight onto the point.

"You got them in Germany, didn't you?"

The woman swiftly turned her head back to him and took in his details yet again, looking vaguely surprised, "So, you know a little about Soul Calibur, do you?"

"Is that what it's called?"

"Yes." she said shortly, still appearing to have concern over his physical credentials, "Soul Calibur...I found it in Germany, yes. I was lucky to have found it. Strange there was no competition. Like I said, there was no heroics in finding it..." she grunted with irritability, "Only sticking it through Tornado would suffice..."

She appeared to be saying this absentmindedly, as if the words were running from her head straight into her mouth. She cleared her throat again, "However, I sincerely doubt you can help me in that respect..."

"What if I told you where Tornado is?"

Her eyes widened slightly, "I daresay you have me interested. Beware, however, I know a tall tale when I hear it. Go on."

"Right..." Yunsung thought desperately- this was going to take some drastic exchanges of trust, "I've got Tornado. She isn't dead. She's holed up somewhere."

She blinked slowly at him again. "Go on." she repeated.

"I'll only tell you where she is...if you make me some promises..."

She snorted loudly and turned away from him, "I have no money. Go away."

"No, I don't want money." said Yunsung weakly.

"Then what do you want? I have nothing but the clothes I am wearing and my blades. And if you think I'm giving them to you you have another thing coming." she said, her irritability appearing in her voice again.

"No, the only promise I need you to make is that you don't kill her!"

Her head turned yet again, and her face registered it's first sign of true amazement. "_Don't_ kill her?"

"Don't kill her, yes." Yunsung repeated, trying to be calming, "Your emperor wants proof that she's killed, right?"

"Yes." she said. She had his full attention now, turning around in her stool. "I don't see what you are implying..."

"Well...Soul Calibur cuts through Soul Edge, right?"

"Ah, so you know Soul Edge too..."she said thoughtfully, "The answer is yes."

"So...so all you have to so is cut the metal off her body. And there's your evidence."

"It would result in death." she said unblinkingly, "Unless...unless Tornado was given time to recover...and it was done in portions...but I don't understand...why not kill Tornado?"

"Because Tornado...Tornado isn't just Soul Edge!" he said earnestly, "She's a human being!"

"Aren't you godly types all about the 'lesser of two evils'? Surely one dead human is better than thousands of dead humans..."

"No...I'm not godly or anything...It's just that I knew Tornado before she was possessed-"

He fell silent. She had the superior smile on again. "Ah, so I see. So this is for personal reasons, is it? That's a bit selfish isn't it? Risking so many lives to keep just one?"

Now that she mentioned it, it was a bit selfish, and Yunsung felt his head beginning to hang. Maybe he had ought to have killed Tornado...

"Boy...your name?"she asked.

"Yunsung." he said dejectedly.

"Taki." she said curtly, and surprisingly, she pulled his head upwards to look at her. She had a very different look on her face. It was serious, but calm. "Yunsung, what are you doing is not selfish at all, in my opinion. What you are expressing is loyalty. I was merely testing you. Speaking of which, I didn't stop to think that Tornado had any loved ones. Forgive me."

Yunsung didn't register very much of this. "It's alright." he said unsuredly.

Taki drowned her shot at last. She stood up, and nodded her head towards the exit.. "Take me to Tornado. I will not kill her, my friend."


	13. Chapter 13: Fear means you're alive

There's been a wee bit of a wait, but here is the latest chapter. It's got a bit of violence but not too much like off-putting stuff or blood. It's a bit longer than some of the other chapters but I really have to keep a constant detail. Oh, and there's already a chapter I really don't like that i posted- the soppy one about Talim being a psycho and Seung-Mina being a punk-ass bitch- that sounded so kiddy and stupid. Ah well, it's a learning experience at least. Oh yeah, ENJOY and REVIEW!

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Yunsung bought some supplies from local stores before heading out with Taki. She waited stiffly outside, her back fully straight and standing beside the store like a bouncer- she certainly looked intimidating. Her small eyes watched everyone walk past. Her face was straight, as it always was.

When he was finished, Yunsung led Taki out of the village and towards the forest, where, deep inside, he had left Tornado. He had slashed the branches of trees with White Storm to mark his path. On the way, Yunsung obediently described Tornado's characteristics to Taki. Every question was indifferent but inviting in a strange sort of way. Taki was cold and initially appeared inwardly and uncaring, but there was something, Yunsung couldn't quite place it, which made her seem less so, as if she was just dutiful.

"Violent, foul-mouthed, sex-wanting... I see. Nothing I wouldn't expect." she said thoughtfully, staring at the cobbled ground in front of her, the handles of her blades bobbing above her shoulders with her walk.

"I don't get why she wants sex so much, I mean, she acts like she _hates _humans..." said Yunsung.

"I would assume she needs anything she can get as a stimulant." said Taki knowledgeably, "Souls were her stimulant before, and I expect they gave her some kind of sadistic pleasure. Now, she wants any kind of pleasure- she's running dry."

"What d'you think will happen when it runs out?"

"No-one knows, of course." said Taki, "But I assume she would get much weaker, possibly back to the same strength as her old self..."

"Which was pretty strong." Yunsung sighed.

"Hmm..." Taki considered this, "Still not strong enough to withhold both of us. Which reminds me. How did you capture Tornado?"

"I didn't really...not by myself." he explained, "I confronted her when she was attacking a village. She started attacking me, but she got cocky and started to taunt me. Then, some of the village archers shot her in the thighs with bolts..."

"Aha. The ideal tactic."Taki said wisely.

"So, it wasn't me who captured her, really." Yunsung continued, pushing further into the forest, watching for cut branches, "I just took her away when she collapsed."

"Hmm." said Taki again, "And yet you distracted her long enough for the bowmen to get a decent shot. You played part enough in her downfall. Heroic indeed, some might say."

Yunsung felt very strange being flattered like this by someone who didn't seem impressed with anything. He fell silent and concentrated on watching out for slashed branches. Taki was watching him closely.

"We're nearing her now." said Yunsung. He walked across into the small clearing, where Tornado's tree was, the ropes wrapped around it. He pushed aside the bushThere was nothing to be seen- the ropes were simply wrapped around the tree, and Tornado was not between them. A chill struck Yunsung like a dart in the chest. "Oh no..."

He looked at Taki fearfully. She was standing beside another tree, and she stared at him, eyes narrowed dangerously, unmoving. He turned back to the ropes hastily, and noticed something. "Wait...there's only one set of ropes here...she hasn't got the ones off her legs ye-"

"CHAAAAAII!" at that very moment, Taki had screamed suddenly and jumped vertically into the tree. Yunsung watched the branches rustle sporadically. He heard another scream, and two bodies came hurtling through the air- one was Taki and the other was Tornado, her legs still bound with rope. The two crashed into the bark of an opposite tree, Tornado first, so there was the nasty _thump_ of her body smashing into it, forced by the ninja's vice-like grip. The two slid to the ground. Tornado landed on her front, but Taki, miraculously, was standing there just as she had been just a few confusing seconds ago.

"_Yunsung, help me!"_Tornado cried in a gurgling voice devoid of emotion, as she struggled to get up. Taki reacted instantaneously, snatching her neck and pushing into the bark. Tornado flailed, roaring and screaming and spitting. But one second later, she was silent. Taki reached up with her free hand, took one of the blue knives, and pushed the flat side into the right of Tornado's neck- where Soul Edge's affliction was.

The second of precious silence passed. Then, Tornado let out the most ear-splitting scream, the highest sound Yunsung had ever heard from a human voice. But it was not of anger, or frustration. It was a frightened scream of pain. Taki lifted the knife away slowly. Tornado panted, her face strained red, and looking up, fear etched onto her face. Tornado, frightened.

Yunsung's senses started to come back as the quiet standstill rested. Taki, whose face was still impassive, began to order Tornado, "You will stay, and be quiet. You are not to run away again."

"Should I tie her up again?" Yunsung asked.

She paused. "Yes. Do it properly this time." she said impatiently.

"I did." he said back, and instantly regretted it. She looked at him, noticeably fierce, but composed, and she stood as straight as always, "Do not speak to me like that. I would have killed you had she not been here."

"Right."said Yunsung stiffly. He picked up the ropes and walked over to Tornado, who looked up at him from the bottom of the tree, surveying him carefully. She was sitting, motionless and stock still, as if invisible cords were already binding her to the tree. Yunsung ran the ropes around her and the tree she was at. He tied in a complicated knot. He could feel Taki's eyes on the back of his head, watching his technique. He ignored this, and looked at Tornado. For once, she was completely silent, completely docile at the sight of him. He reached out to put his hand on her cheek.

She shook her face away with a grunt. Yunsung was disappointed but slightly relieved- she was still 'normal'. He set his eyes on the side of her neck, where the blade had touched, and saw there was no noticeable change, but Tornado still wrested her neck from his glare, a look of fright passing across her face again.

"Interesting." said Taki, kneeling down to examine Tornado also.

"Don't do that." said Yunsung instantly.

She peered at him, "Do what?"

"Don't speak to her like that." said Yunsung, looking at her with a cold distaste, "Stop treating her like she's some _specimen_ you want to experiment on."

It must have seemed he had been stretching his imagination too far, but it was how he felt. He knew Tornado was evil, that she had killed so many and she was profane, but somehow when he saw she could fear he knew that the Talim he felt for was still present within her. He was angry, angry at Taki for hurting her. He was standing up for someone so evil- it felt wrong, but with the fear, he saw feeling, and with the feeling he found love...

"Talim..." he said soothingly, as he tried to put his hand in her hair and she jerked away, "Talim, don't do that..."

"She may bite." Taki inputted.

"Shut up." said Yunsung indifferently. He caught Tornado's head between his hands, pushed it gently against the tree, and rotated his right through her soft locks. Tornado was getting increasingly angry, grunting and trying to shift away, glancing at Taki fearfully. Taki was completely silent, apparently still confused as to Yunsung's motives.

Eventually, Tornado roared, _"Get your disgusting hands off me!"_ in the most cruel voice she could muster. Yunsung stopped. His uplifted, airy feeling melted and drowned away inside him. He stood up quickly.

"Yunsung!" said Taki boldly.

"Watch her for a minute." said Yunsung distractedly. He didn't know what he was feeling, but what he couldn't help was it letting out. He sat behind a nearby tree, shielded from view, and mourned silently. He was so mixed up- he didn't know what to do next, or what he thought, or what he felt, all he knew was that it was now imperative that Talim be healed. As he cried, there was a slight condolence to him as he heard Taki say, "Perhaps you should get some rest, Talim."


	14. Chapter 14: Lovebirds

Watch out folks, this chapter's a bit of a biggie. But I'm pleased with it! This chapter was definetly one of the hardest to do, but I finally decided on a plotline which would carry on through with the rest of the story. I hope you enjoy this one!

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Yunsung charged. The soldiers braced themselves in fear, for they knew that this was a warrior most mighty. He slashed and swiped at them, spinning and lunging effortlessly, the evil soldiers falling like stones, as the people cheered and chanted "Yunsung, Yunsung!" He waved to his public regally, dismissing yet another soldier with a single kick to the head. When he reached the castle, he charged through it, shouting, "You will never defeat me!" He rescued many a woman, who each begged him to stay for "tea", but his wants were much higher than the mere peasants.

He kicked through the door at the very top of the castle, so he was out on the battlements. And there, was the cruel king, and he was restraining the beautiful princess. She was still very pretty, despite her white dress being tousled, and she was in distress. She muffled desperately at the brave warrior Yunsung, into the hand of the king. The King had a knife to her throat.

In one split-second, Yunsung, in an outstanding feat of skill, had thrown White Storm towards the king. It smashed into his head, and he staggered backwards, right over the battlements, "ARRRRRGGGHH!!" he fell, with a satisfying _clump_ on the ground below.

The beautiful black-haired, big-eyed maiden launched herself into his arms. "Oh, Yunsung, thank you for saving me! I love you, my dearest!"

"And I you, lily of the forgotten lands..." said Yunsung softly, in a brash, handsome voice. He reached over to stroke her hair, but her hand seeped through and into her skull, as if it was as mashable as a pillow...The handsome scenery from the tower melted...the princess disappeared...

Yunsung woke up to find the dullness of his room in Ayutthaya to greet him. He had been having such a brilliant dream. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Today, Talim and him would be leaving, parting ways...it would be a long time before they saw each other again...he had to show her, today more than any other day, that he loved her. He knew this wasn't a fling like girls before. Talim and him had a bond, a bond so deep they didn't even have to hold hands or kiss to know it was there.

He glanced out his window. The sun was rising- it was early morning. He shoved on his clothes, and took off, out of the inn and into the town. He had to get her a gift...

oOoOoOo

Yunsung fingered the gift in his pocket. There had been no time to wrap or package it in some way, he just had it in his pocket with him. He had used most of his remaining money on it. It didn't matter really, seeing as he had enough left to pay for his boat expenses to and from, and that would be all he would need. He shoved the journey ahead to the back of his mind, _don't think about that. Concentrate on Talim. _He had been doubtful whether it would be enough for her, but he had a feeling, just a feeling that she would love whatever he gave her. And this was certainly him going out of his way. He put his hands by his sides, and strode into bar entrance to the inn.

As soon as he saw Talim, at one of the tables in the bar, he could tell something was wrong. Her eyes were reddened around the edges again, and Mina had her hand on her shoulder, comforting her, and chatting to her. Mina looked up, and saw Yunsung. She pointed instantly and cried, "Talim, _look!"_

Talim did at once. "_Yunsung!!!"_ she cried, and threw herself from the table, launching herself into Yunsung's arms, just as she'd done in his dream. It was several hundred times better, though. He only had a second to cherish it, before she was telling him off; "Where did you _go???_ I thought you'd gone and left without saying goodbye!" and new tears of relief dribbled down her face.

"No-no, of course I wouldn't!" he said earnestly, wiping the tears from her face. "Never. I was away getting something for you."

"For me?" she said, curiously. Mina had wandered over to watch. Yunsung noticed she was looking determinedly and politely expressionless.

"Yeah." he said to Talim, ignoring Mina. "Turn around and I'll show you."

"Oh, this is some trick, isn't it?" she said jokingly, giving him a little push.

"Not at all. Turn around and close your eyes." Talim turned around, so her (elegant) neck, back and head were facing him. "Okay." she said, "I'm ready!"

"Your eyes closed?"

"Yes!"

"Alright. It's coming now."

Yunsung put a hand in his pocket and lifted out his gift. It was a necklace. The lace was made of string with gold segments around it. And the ornament was three golden birds, hanging from the end of the loop. Yunsung lifted it up for Mina to see, grinning, expecting for her to look surprised. Her eyebrows were raised at the gift, but her expression was otherwise unchanged. The birds clanged together shimmeringly as he lifted the necklace.

"I can hear metallic-y sounds!" said Talim, a note of excitement in her voice.

"Keep those eyes closed!" Yunsung commanded.

"Alright, but stop teasing me and show me it already!" she complained jovially.

"Here it comes!" Yunsung took the hook-clasps of the necklace and slipped them around Talim's neck, hooked them together ("Yunsung!"she sniggered, "That's cold!"), and then he swooped the necklace around on her neck, so the birds rested just above her chest.

"Ok, open your eyes!"

He stepped to her side to see her expression. She gasped as she saw the necklace, "Oh, Yunsung, it's _beautiful!_ Look, Mina!" she showed it to her. She peered obediently, as Talim went on, excitedly, "It's gold- that's real gold! Wow! Yunsung!"she swept her gaze to Yunsung, who was feeling very pleased with himself, "Yunsung, I'm so grateful!"

"No problem." he said, "Just, when you're out there, look at it and think of me, alright?"

"I will!" she said, and give him a hug, her arms going round his neck. She sighed over his shoulder, resting her head. Yunsung had a view of Mina over the side of Talim's shoulder. She was not as pleased as he thought she would be- on the contrary, her lips were pursed together tightly as if she was forcibly restraining herself.

After a little while of Talim clinging onto him, Mina finally spoke, "Talim!"

Talim didn't bother to let go of Yunsung, just twisted her head as far as it would go and said, "Yes?"

"C'mere." she said, without the up-and-down tone her voice usually had, "I want to talk to you before you go."

Talim slid off Yunsung's shoulder reluctantly- he himself was looking a little perplexed. She smiled at him reassuringly, "Don't worry. She said she'd give me some girl advice for what's coming ahead."

"'Girl' advice?" he asked, scratching his head.

"That's for us to know and you not to find out!" she gabbled, and went with Mina a little way across the bar.

Suspicious, Yunsung followed silently, pretending to go up the inn stairs towards the dormitories, but instead doubling back and across to where Mina and Talim were whispering to one another. However, they had chosen a wide-open space in the bar, so Yunsung couldn't get close enough to listen, and he couldn't lip-read. He did see, however, that Mina was looking very serious, and that Talim appeared unsure, or even a bit hurt. They didn't notice Yunsung.

He watched until the conversation ended, upon which Mina gave Talim a firm pat on the back, which Talim looked unprepared for, and she stumbled forward a little. Mina glided towards the entrance. Yunsung quickly doubled back once more, going up the stairs, before casually walking down again, trying to conceal his lack of breath. Talim found him as he reached the bottom step.

"Just seeing if I forgot anything." he said, "So, what was it about?"

"Nothing. I told you." she said, her arms folded, looking disgruntled. They began to walk, stiffly side by side, towards the entrance to the bar. Then, out of the corner of her mouth, Talim grunted something which sounded like, "Beetroot."

"What?" said Yunsung. She looked at him, caught by surprise. "What did you say?"he repeated.

"Nothing." she said again.

"No, you definitely said something. What was it?"

Talim had a look on her face which denounced she had no escape. She sighed, "I said beetroot."

"Beetroot?"said Yunsung, pondering whether this meant something different in the Philippines.

"Yeah." she said,looking quite angry for some reason. She nodded her head towards the entrance, where Mina had exited, "_She's_ a beetroot."

"Ah, right." said Yunsung- it must have been a euphemism for 'bitch'. He remembered she was a Shaman- perhaps she was not permitted to swear, "So, why is she a 'beetroot', then?"

"Oh...well..." she paused, "She asked me what perfume I used." she made a very girl-like 'ugh!' sound of indignation, "And _I_ thought it was something important..."

"Oh, right. Girl stuff." he said, slightly put at ease. But the conversation between Talim and Mina looked too serious to be about perfume- why was Talim looking so upset about it? He had always been puzzled by these principles girls had, and it confused it even more because Talim was slightly more boyish and had less of these principles than it initially appeared. Then again, he had always wondered how she smelt so nice...

As they walked out the entrance, they each stared left and right,as if they were deciding where to go, though Yunsung knew the docks were to the right. He stared in that direction and was planning to go there, when something took him by surprise. Somehow, in the blink of an eye, Talim had appeared in front of him, and was kissing him tenderly on the lips.

Enraptured and hypnotized by the feeling of her own soft lips, his hands glided automatically to the side of her head and her waist. He caressed her head, feeling it move as they smoothed their lips across. He was quite amazed, but pleased, as he found that her tongue was the first to ask for entrance. He allowed it, and his taste buds slipped over her own, tasting the inside of her mouth as her own tongue pushed and danced with his, winding and wrestling slowly and softly.

She broke it."I love you." she said dearly, grabbing his waistcoat and taking a sharp breath, "You're the first boy I ever kissed and I love you!" she was in distress, her small hands going red and shaking with grip, and her face blushing up to fight tears, "_Why?"_she said tearfully, "_Why do we have to go away??"_

"Hey-hey!"said Yunsung, pushing her hands free, taking them in his own and rubbing them, and tears seeped from Talim's brown, constantly quivering eyes, her lip trembling, "Remember why we're doing this." Yunsung said, "For our own causes, okay? Remember your cause."

"My...my cause..."she whispered, catching her breath, her body crouched down slightly.

"Yes, your cause." he said gently, "Aim for it. You can do this, and I can do this, isn't that right?"

"I...can...I..." she was trembling all over, "No! No I can't!"

"You knew you had to say goodbye, when you set out, didn't you...?" he said, and then, was hit by sudden inspiration, "Talim, call on the wind!"

"The...the wind?" she said, as if she was so scared, she'd forgotten what it was.

"Yes." Yunsung said, kneeling down in front of her, so their faces were level, "Talk to the wind, say a prayer, it'll give you strength. You told me so."

She took a great, shuddering breath, and said "Okay..." and prepared to say a prayer. "Thats it, that's it..." Yunsung said soothingly, and offered her his arms, and she cuddled him. He decided it was better being level with her and cuddling her, as he was nuzzling into _her_ chest now, which was an exciting prospect, but he laid it aside in the reverence he'd earned for Talim's prayer:

_Wind, guide me_

_Don't bate my breath_

_Blow my future clean_

_for mine eyes to see_

_Let my mind behold_

_What the timely prophets decreed_

_Blow their blades_

_So I may not bleed_

_You say stop, I stop_

_You say go, I go_

_I go_

Yunsung let her rest on him again for a little while as she breathed softly, getting calmer. She made a "Mmm..." noise, as if she was beginning to enjoy Yunsung again, and said, with a renewed character in her voice which made Yunsung's heart jump, "You're head's on my breasts."

He jerked it away as she laughed, "No-no, it's okay! You may as well, it'll be a while!" Upon this, re-invigorated, he made a monster-like roar, and made a lunge for Talim's chest. She made a little scream and jumped away, "No! Too far, mister! Too far!"

"You'll never be too far! I'll always want your breasts!" he said savagely, and made another lunge. Something very odd had occurred which had enlivened both their hearts. The sheer magic of the prayer made them feel happier about the predicament, even joke and laugh about it. As Yunsung had her one last chase around the town, he could almost feel the wind holding him back. Everything would come, he decided, in it's own good time.


	15. Chapter 15: Not plain sailing

Yes, a rather delayed update, but I'm still working out how this story will go. I know roundabout whats going to happen but I'm working on climaxes (that's STORY climaxes, you pervs!) and ending plots and yadeyadeyada. Well anyways heres another chapster!

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The pier was at least two miles away from Ayutthaya- a good, long walk. The scenery was quite lovely; there was the great sea in front of them, visible above the picturesque forests, through which paths were cut. There were birds singing, the sun was shining, and there was a cool, calm breeze. As ideal the conditions were, they wouldn't have mattered, because Yunsung and Talim only had eyes for each other.

Yunsung was brimming inside. He had his hand around Talim's waist, and occasionally he tugged her white khakis upwards a little, as a kind of reminder to her that he was there, and a reminder to others that she belonged to him. His other hand was on Talim's left forearm- he would run it up and down, along the cool, soft underside, down to her fingers, which he would pluck at. Talim acted as if she was a toy of Yunsung's affection, calmly doing all the things he liked, like leaning her head back onto his shoulder, putting one of her hands on his abdomen, and taking deep breaths.

They didn't say much, they just walked along, occasionally squeezing each other's hands for support. Yunsung wanted the walk to last forever. But alas, they reached the pier, where two boats were waiting for them. The sea air washed over Yunsung, so fresh but so terrible-of new beginnings but parting of ways. "Well, this is it." said Talim, looking at him with a sad smile.

"I love you. I'll always think about you."Yunsung vowed immediately.

"I'll think about you as well."she said, as he took both of her hands, to admire her one last time, "Well, we better head off."

"Wait!"said Yunsung suddenly, throwing her into a kiss. He closed his eyes and savoured it, but before he knew it, the kiss was over, and Talim was asking which boat sailed north. A sailor answered her, "The one on the right goes to Vietnam, to the north, and the one on the left is direct to Cape Town, across the Indian Ocean."

"From there I should take another boat to Europe." said Yunsung.

"It's quite a journey. I'll have to go all across Asia..."she looked at him worriedly, "Please look after yourself, Yunsung. You're a strong man – make sure your boat makes it, okay?"

"You take care too. You're only little, but you're tough." He swept her hands onto her armpits and lifted her up. "Yunsung!" she yelped, "Down! Down, again!" he put her down, chuckling, "Not here!" she insisted, with an indignant but amused look on her face.

"Right. When we meet again. In Germany." he said taking her hand. She nodded. She looked definitely downhearted, but she swept away before he could console her more. He frowned- she must have been very upset. He reluctantly followed the line of passengers boarding the big, strong, well-built ship on the left. His feet made tapping noises on the wooden deck. Looking out across to the right, he saw the boats were only inches apart. He struggled through the bustle of passengers waving goodbye to loved ones on land, to meet Talim on the other boat.

They smiled sadly at one another. Yunsung waved and Talim waved back, slowly, as if their hands had become weak from not being held. Yunsung found himself lost for words-he was bursting to say something to her, as if there was some destined thing he was meant to say here, but he couldn't think of anything at all...

"Lift the anchor!" shouted the captains. "Everyone into the boat! Quickly!"

"Goodbye!" Yunsung called, leaning over the boat's edge.

"Goodbye! Farewell!" Talim shouted back.

"I love you!" He said desperately.

"Oh, Yunsung! I just remembered!" she cried, as the boats began to drift out of the harbour. She lifted the gold necklace he'd given her off her neck and handed it over the side of the boat, "Take this!"

"But-"

"I can't bring it!" she cried, leaning further- the space between the boats was getting wider, "It's to do with my religion! Please! Take it!"

Yunsung leaned across just as his boat had begun to turn away. He stretched as far as he could..._just a little closer_...he willed himself, he willed his arm to stretch. His fingers were millimetres from the gold necklace, and Talim's soft fingers.

His fingers closed on the necklace, but closed on her fingers as well. How soft they were.

"YUNSUNG NO!" Talim screamed. Unwillingly, he had been pulling Talim off her boat and into the sea, as his boat was still turning away. A sailor on Talim's side took hold of her, reacting to the cry. Yunsung's fingers slipped from Talim's warm ones, and the cold metal necklace slipped into his hand, hanging by it's string across the harsh sea.

Talim was heaved back onto her boat. "I love you!" Yunsung roared desperately. But Talim just waved, and turned away.

He looked on, watching the boat get further and further away. "Don't look back, kid." said one of the sailors on his boat, who had tapped him on the shoulder. "Come on, get underneath." Yunsung reluctantly, dejectedly and almost tearfully followed the sailor down the steps, into the dark belly of the boat, which he knew, would swallow him up, and keep him for a long time.


	16. Chapter 16: No Heroics

Since the last chapter was pretty short, I'm sticking up another one nice ad quick. I'm not sure how this chapter worked out so well but it just did! I quite like it actually. Oh, thanks for all the reviews so far, especially from my regulars areku, reylna, heaven-monument, and mystic-Hoshi. And I hope this chapter has enough PHLOAH for you, heaven-monument, or whatever you were talking about:D :D

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Yunsung hadn't realized how long he had been behind the tree- the sun was already setting, just visible through the trees. He ran his hands through his hair and along his face, wiping sweat and tears away. He had only just realized how exhausted he was, and as he tried to heave himself to his feet, aches and pains he'd had along his journey were thrown into sharp relief- his back was worst affected, having had to carry Tornado all this time. Hopefully with Taki in tow the transport of Tornado would be simpler. He made a few stretches to loosen up his muscles- he would be alright, he knew how strong he was, and these aches and pains were really nothing. _Keep it focused now, Yunsung_, he thought to himself, _You're nearly there. Remember your cause._

He stepped into the clearing where Taki and Tornado were. Taki was sitting with her back against one of the trees, her small eyes focused totally on Tornado, who surprisingly was fast asleep, tied to the tree and breathing softly, looking almost normal. Taki looked up as he entered. "Hi." he said, and made for his backpack in the corner, rootling in it.

"What are you looking for?" came Taki's alert voice.

Yunsung didn't reply. He fished in and finally found the necklace, still as shiny and gold as it was back when he first gave it to Talim. But she'd given it back. It was due to her religion...or was it?-Yunsung had an inkling that was not what it was, that Talim had seemed desperate to get rid of the thing. Then again, she was quite pious. The golden birds clanged together in a shimmering sound as Yunsung lifted the necklace out of the bag and sat down with Taki.

"It's...it was Talim's." he said, showing it to her.

She peered at it obediently. "Why do you have it?"

Yunsung found himself gazing at the necklace, as he had done so many other times since Talim's disappearance. "It was to do with her religion, she said..." he replied vaguely.

"Ah..." she said, as if she was about to start a lecture, but her eyes narrowed to herself and she seemed to think against it. Yunsung said thoughtfully. "I don't think so, though..."

"You don't think what?"

"I don't think it was to do with her religion..."he replied, still scrutinizing the necklace, "It was like it was something else..."

"I would not know." said Taki indifferently.

Yunsung caught hold of himself and went to stuff the necklace in his pocket, "Yeah, I know. Sorry, it's stupid, getting worked up over a stupid old necklace...sorry..." he glanced at her nervously, then decided to watch Tornado grunt in her sleep while Taki said, "Yes, there are more pressing things than Tornado's old possessions."

"Like what?" said Yunsung, daydreaming again.

"Like a plan. I was assuming you had one." her voice was becoming steely and a little louder, "Something to do with freeing this girl from her affliction..."

"Oh. Oh, yeah!" said Yunsung suddenly, shooting to attention quickly- _keep it together!_ he thought ferociously, "Yeah, so, we need to use Soul Calibur to remove the shards from Talim's body, right? So...we...well I assumed..."Yunsung thought quickly, noticing Taki's sniffing, "We could use Soul Calibur to cut or lift the shards out of Talim's body. She's mine, the shards are yours."

"I have already mentioned that doing such a thing would result in death, unless the procedure was done in portions, and if that Tor-...Talim was given time to recover." Taki declared irritably.

"Yeah...yeah so let's do that!" said Yunsung, now desperate for this conversation to be over.

"Are you so blunt or as stupid as to simply start ripping things out of people?" Taki said impatiently, sounding as if she had come to her limit, "Not that such a thing would matter to me, but it would result in a lot of bleeding and pain! Such a thing would concern you, since you are weak of heart for the girl."

"Right."said Yunsung, slightly angry now, "We would need a doctor...no, a team of doctors!"

"Yes, yes!"said Taki triumphantly and tiredly, as if she had just explained two plus two to a eighteen-year-old, "Such a thing would cost, however, and plans of the incisions would have to be drawn up...et cetera..."

"I've got lots of money with me, I come from a pretty rich family." Yunsung explained, "And there's a great hospital at my hometown. We could go there."

She nodded, "So. We are set." she looked quite thoughtful for a moment, looking at her filed-down nails, "And yet, no heroics...confusing..."

"Yeah...what did you mean by that?" asked Yunsung curiously.

She looked at him, obviously contemplating to herself whether to tell him or not, and finally said, "I will tell you. It requires telling you why I need the shards, and how I got Soul Calibur. But..." she looked behind the tree she was leaning on, at the setting sun, "We have time." She cleared her throat,"It all started a few months ago, when we in Japan were hearing of Nightmare's rampages. I had expelled many demons while in Japan, and considered going after Nightmare, but I was tired of it. I wanted to try something else, something harder, something which would challenge me to my very limit."

"But my village sensei was so curious about Soul Edge that he was nearly begging me to go. When I denied to, he promised me it would be my greatest challenge yet- I would have to find the sword, Soul Calibur, and defeat Nightmare, encountering the many trials which led that way. Eventually, he convinced me, and I traveled to Germany. It was a long but not very perilous journey. When i got there, to the castle where I was promised a battle for the Soul Calibur. But all I found was the sword- Nightmare was nowhere to be seen. No heroics." she nodded to Yunsung, pointing this out. He nodded back, urging her on.

"I made my way to Japan with the sword as my only trophy. I took my time, no longer anxious to quest or return home. One month later, I heard about Tornado. I have been looking for her ever since. And now...we only have to take her to a hospital, and the deed is done...no heroics. No glory. No honor." Taki finished, looking quite unhappy, but still looking dignified. Yunsung's thoughts swirled- he was feeling a lot of pity for her, as well as the feeling that she was being more than a little big-headed. He found he had something to say.

"Thank you, Taki." he said solemnly.

"For what, exactly?" she replied, mildly surprised.

"Thank you, for not killing Talim." he said, "You've been looking for a challenge all this time, and you could have fought her and killed her now when she's right in front of you. But you didn't, on my request. Thanks."

She definitely looked as if she had only just realized this act of kindness she had performed. She stared at her fingers again, looking more displaced than usual, "You are welcome, I guess."

"You know what I think, Taki?" Yunsung said, smiling, "I think dumping heroics for one person's love is a very brave thing to do."

She blinked. Unless Yunsung was much mistaken, Taki sat her head a little higher on her shoulders. "Yes." she said slowly, "Yes, I suppose it is."

Yunsung grinned to himself, and looked over at Tornado's grunting, groaning body bound to the tree, and he thought to himself of how soon she was going to be free. He looked at her cut, but still finely carved face, and her dirty clothes laid onto her near-perfect frame. She was afflicted by Soul Edge, and she had killed hundreds of people...and yet not even Taki could bring herself to kill her. There was hope, he thought, as long as people could still love her.


	17. Chapter 17: Heroics needed

Sorry if you got an alert about this chapter and found it wasn't there. Almost straight when I uploaded it I deleted the chapter, because 1. I didn't get an alert when I uploaded it

2. there were some inconsistencies and

3. just not enough detail.

So here it is, lots of brand-spunky new chappiness for your own amusappy! Oh, and sorry about the bad 'flow' puns I've been making. Just a teensy bit immature:D.

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"_It has taken you long enough, foolish child."_

"Sorry, Master."

"_What exactly were you doing? Off having a party, thinking I was dead, were you?"_

"No, Master, never, Master. There were...complications..."

Yunsung stirred from his sleep, but keeping his eyes firmly shut. He could hear Tornado, and another female voice, speaking. The knowledge that Tornado was free shivered down his bones, and his heart started beating rapidly. He stayed very still and tried to look as naturally asleep as possible. He could feel the bark of the tree on the back of his neck and the dew of the grass underneath him. A wolf howled in the distance ominously. He waited for his chance, just listening.

"_Complications? Ha, complications, there is nothing complicated about being a whore. That is what you are, isn't it?"_

"I am not a whore."

"_...What did you just say to me?"_

There was a silence, "Nothing." said the other girl tentatively, whose voice was quite high.

"_Good. Now, what are you waiting for? Free me!"_Tornado commanded viciously, her voice filled with hate at her accomplice. Yunsung heard ropes being slashed. He felt Tornado pass across him, and a rooting sound...Tornado was searching in his rucksack for her tonfas. He heard a _ching_ as they were lifted out.

Yunsung almost reacted when he felt a cold, sharp metal push gently against his throat. He held his breath desperately.

"_What are you doing, insolent child??"_

"Nothing, Master."

"_Your stupidity is unquestionable. That is not 'nothing'."_

"I am examining this boy, Master."

"_Hmph. So, how much do you reckon he'll pay for one night?"_

There was silence, and Tornado laughed evilly.

"_You are a disgusting piece of filth, Tira, almost as disgusting as the boy himself."_

"I like the flesh of his neck, Master."the girl called Tira said excitedly, "May I kill him?"

Yunsung's heart began to beat even faster. He prayed she wouldn't notice.

"_No, you may not."_

Yunsung, with relief, found the pressure being taken away from his neck.

"Why not, Master?"

"_Because I said so. Shut up. I am planning our next course of action."_

There was relative silence, apart from the odd squawk of a bird. Yunsung heard Tira's voice go, "hmm."

"What about this girl, Master?"

Tornado paused, then cackled, _"Fine, you may kill that one, Tira. She is nothing but a nui-"_

Yunsung realized had no time to waste."TAKI!!!" he roared in warning, his eyes snapping open. He saw a glimpse of Tornado and a girl in green rags with a large ring blade, both looking over to him in surprise, before snapping his vision to Taki, who was scrambling to her feet.

"DIE!!!"screamed Tira, and swung her ring blade. It smashed Taki in the stomach, and she cried out in pain and was thrown backwards against a tree. "Shit, missed 'er 'ead!" Tira's voice had rapidly changed to a hearty chuckle. Yunsung stood up quickly and pulled out White Storm.

"I SAID D-urk!"Tira was about to swing her blade towards Taki's neck, but Yunsung dealt a kick to the side of her ribs, sending her flying sideways. He saw Tornado trying to make a run for it. Seeing no other course of action, Yunsung threw White Storm vertically towards Tornado's back. It was a direct hit, smashing into the region of her right shoulder blade, in between the shards, and staying there. She roared out in pain, and fell onto the grass.

"MASTER!!!" Tira screamed in pure fear. She tried to get up, but Yunsung spun around and kicked her across the side of her head, knocking her unconscious. He instantly charged over to Taki, who was leaning against the tree lopsidedly, holding her bloody stomach with her right hand and supporting herself with her left.

"Taki?" Yunsung said in a panicky voice, "Taki, are you alright?

"I...am fine..."she gasped, her shaking hand fast covering in blood, "It is...quite shallow...I will...manage here...take...blades..."she bent forward painfully, offering forward her ninja weapons.

Yunsung took them. He was surprised as the two blades of Soul Calibur merged in his hands and formed the shape of White Storm. "Taki, do you promise you're going to be okay?"

She nodded tremulously, "I will...attend to it...myself...go...look!"

She pointed over Yunsung's shoulder. He looked around and saw that Tornado was no longer lying on the ground, and was in fact, nowhere to be seen. He took off instantly, darting through the trees. With a deep injury like that, Tornado couldn't have gotten very far. He raced through the forest until he found himself back on a wide, trodden path.

Tornado was running haphazardly and slowly towards an opposite line of trees, White Storm still wedged deep into her back. "Talim, stop!" Yunsung commanded.

She turned around, her dilated left eye piercing at him while the right, encrusted and an ungodly white, simply looked horrible. She turned around to him, tonfas in one hand. She faced him ferociously, teeth bared, and reached up, to White Storm, and with a great and bloody roar pulled it straight out of her back. She didn't seem to feel much pain..._forced by the energy of Soul Edge_, Yunsung thought. Tornado's yellow teeth formed a vicious grin at him, her muscles visibly stiffened in front of him, as she raised her tonfas to fight him.

Yunsung looked at Soul Calibur. It was the same shape as White Storm but there was a hole cut in the middle of it, so it was simply a thick, metallic blue frame with a handle. He gave it a practice swing, and almost was caught off-balance. The weapon slid so easily through the air it was like a knife through butter. He readied himself.

Tornado charged at him and did her trademark cartwheel assault. Yunsung set himself firmly in the cobbled ground and prepared to block her, but she canceled the move at the last minute and smashed her tonfa upwards into his jaw. Yunsung was propelled backwards through the air, and landed, crumpled on the ground, feeling blood slip between his lips. He rolled over and onto his feet as quick as he could, and brought up his sword as Tornado began to deal blow after mechanical blow on the sword again.

However, Yunsung found the sword coping easily with the bashing it was taking, and that it wasn't hard for him to hold Tornado off. In fact, he felt himself getting stronger with every blow he blocked. When the timing was perfect, he pushed Tornado's umpteenth tonfa blow effortlessly to the right. Her body tried to go with it, but Yunsung caught her by her ponytails (as cruel as that was) and kicked her twice in the stomach. He then pushed her onto the ground, and sat down, legs on either side of her body, and held her arms to the side.

If Yunsung had Talim in this position, he probably would have kissed her. Tornado screamed and roared and thrashed her body around, cursing and yelling at him.

Yunsung pushed Soul Calibur into her neck, and she let out an ear-splitting scream, and collapsed, eyes closing, unconscious. She lay there underneath him, dormant, her arms spread out, curiously like the wings of an angel. Yunsung kissed her regretfully, then rested momentarily, until he saw a trickle of blood edging from her side, and remembered.

He turned her over to examine the wound he'd carved into her. It was very deep and very bloody, just a huge crevice cut into her back like a chasm, the shards around it making it look like it was the bottomless pit of hell. There was redness leaking in between the scales like it was traversing a spiky maze.

Trickles of coldness slid down Yunsung's back once again-if Talim didn't get help soon, she could die from this wound. Hands shivering, Yunsung quickly picked her up, lifted her into that familiar position on his back, and carried her quickly back to where Taki was.

He found her, eyes squinted and teeth gritted, stitching up her own wound with the stitching string Yunsung kept in his rucksack. She wasn't doing a very good job of it, her needle shaking and piercing wrong. The girl in green rags was still out cold, her ring blade hanging around her body. Yunsung could see, strange as it was, that she also had _green_ hair, and...and were they _purple eyes...???_

He had no time to think about it. Yunsung set Tornado down on her front, and went over to Taki, "Here, let me help you." he told her, taking the needle from her shaking hands, "Th...thank you..." she gasped, as Yunsung began to stitch the cut- she was right, it wasn't that deep, but it was wide and still looked very painful. Taki breathed, "You are...a...good..survivalist...that...rucksack..."

"It's got everything, hasn't it?"he finished for her, chuckling a little. She nodded, her breathing becoming more natural, "Is Talim...okay?"

"No. She isn't. It's something I can't stitch up. I need to get her to a hospital as soon as possible."

"Alright...I will come..."she gasped, "We will perform...the removal there as well..."

Yunsung protested, "But they might not be prof-"

"No!" Taki cried suddenly, and winced in pain.

"Don't do that!" he said consolingly, placing his hand on her shoulder "Stay calm."

"We must perform the removal..."she said feverishly, "We have had one chance today...Soul Edge must have followers everywhere...we cannot take that chance again...we must perform it as soon as possible!"

"Right. We will, don't worry! Just stay calm!" Yunsung told her, and finished stitching. It was a rushed job, but it would do. "Can you walk?"

"Y-yes." she said. Yunsung took her hand and heaved her up onto her feet. She tried to walk, and could, though she kept one eye closed because of the pain in her belly, "Yes, I can walk."she said.

"Okay." Yunsung picked up Tornado onto his back again. "Let's go!"

"Wait!" she said, "What about the girl?" she indicated the unconscious Tira. Yunsung was inwardly quite intrigued by this girl. She undoubtedly loved killing as much as Tornado seemed to, and was loyal, but she sounded quite helpless, especially since Soul Edge's host treated her so badly- it was impossible to decipher why Tira would go in for such a thing. Yunsung couldn't think of anything better to do but to separate her from her master.

"We'll leave her here." Yunsung decided, shifting Tornado's dead weight,"She didn't know what she was doing. Come on, we have to pick up White Storm and Talim's tonfas on the way."

And, heaving Tornado further up his back, he pushed back out through the forest, Taki limping slowly behind him.


	18. Chapter 18: The Locals

This chapter's a big one, but I really couldn't make it shorter. I estimate this story should end in about 4-5 chapters at the most.

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Yunsung felt sweat dribbling down the side of his head. He had walked for at least an hour with Tornado on his back, Taki limping along beside him. His jaw ached now- he hadn't noticed how hard Tornado had actually hit him, and now his gritted teeth set off impulses of pain through his spinal cord. And now, at long last, they saw town gates.

"Look..."Yunsung panted, his voice croaked because of his sore throat, "There! A town!"

"Yes..."Taki replied-she hadn't talked since they left the camp. She was still holding her stomach.

It took them a while to get into the gates themselves. Once they were inside the town, Yunsung felt so relieved that he felt his legs wobble underneath him...the sun blinding him...his world spiraled in the lids of his eyes...

"Yunsung!"Taki croaked in warning. It was too late-Yunsung closed his eyes, and felt himself slumping sideways, and his fall through the air felt like slow-motion...But he didn't reach the ground, caught by two pairs of strong hands.

"Steady!" said a gruff voice, "Steady there lad, watch the girl now!" Yunsung found, to his half-gratitude and half-annoyance, that he was being roused. He was pushed back onto his feet, and Tornado was taken off his arms. He still felt weak, his legs still oddly numb. Through his blurred vision, eyelids only half-open, he saw two people who looked like guards, in chain mail armour, carrying Tornado oddly at arms' length, as if they were objected to touching her.

"What the hell is going on here??" said the gruff voice of one of the guards, "This looks like a wound, but what's all _this?"_

"Don't you touch 'er!" said Yunsung immediately, drowsily, not quite sure what he was saying or who he was saying it to, "Don't you dare touch 'er..."

"Easy, lad!" said the gruff voice, "We're not gonna hurt her. We'll take you and your two lady friends here to the hospital."

"Yes! The hospital!" Yunsung wheezed, as if it was the only thing he understood right now, "We need to get to the hospital! Perform the procedure!"

"That's right, son."said the man gently, and felt the middle of his back being pushed, and he walked in the direction he was pushed in, "Which one of these ladies is yours, then?"he chucked friendlily.

"Talim."he said, smiling vaguely, his blurry vision telling him nothing about where he was, "She's got black hair, and brown eyes. She's very beautiful..."

"Indeed she is." said the man.

"Don't look at me!!!"Yunsung heard Taki say indignantly.

"Oh. Sorry ma'am, my mistake. What _is_ going on with this little one, though?"

"It is a long story. One that Yunsung would be better to tell if he was in any fit shape. He is more socially inclined than I would be." Taki said, in a very dignified and dark voice.

"Riiight." the man's voice sounded a bit wary of Taki's intimidating manner, "We'll ask him once he's rested."

Yunsung allowed himself to be pushed forwards, his feet scraping against the gravel, seeing scattered images of modest houses, and was urged along until he heard a plummy female voice say, "Oh? A few invalids?"

"A bit more than "invalids", Madam Sarene."said the guard. "This girl's gravely injured, the other doesn't look so good, and this guy- he's so tired he's delirious."

"Oh, send them in! Quickly now! Careful!" said the plummy, motherly voice. Yunsung was ushered into a doorway, and pushed firmly into a sitting position on something which had a cushion on it. He sat there, head slumped, noticing vaguely the large array of movement around him. Then he found one of his hands being pushed up to hold something which felt like glass.

"Drink." said Taki's voice.

Yunsung drank-it was water, and that one sip was so refreshing that he began to gulp down the entire contents of the glass. He drank it dry, shook his head free from drowsiness, and looked at the confusing scene in front of him.

He was in a small room well lit by several windows letting in pleasant sunlight, so it seemed a little bigger. The lighting was occasionally shadowed by large figures-the strong guards carrying Tornado, and heaving her onto a bed. Two women in white were bustling around the room fiddling and attaching medical equipment, and a third woman who looked slightly older was barking out orders to them. Taki was sitting beside him, sipping water, her face now relaxed and as impassive as usual, though she still held her cut stomach.

Tornado was laid face down on the bed. Yunsung, on instinct, stood up and pushed past the guards to see her. "Talim!" was the only thing he could say, as he saw the chasm and spikes that was her back.

"Steady on, lad." said the same guard again-he was a tall, black man with a moustache, round shoulders and a wide, strong build-he had every aspect of a man in charge. "You still need your rest, doesn't he Madam Sarene?"

"Indeed." said the older of the women in white, swooping her hands on Yunsung's shoulders and trying to usher him backwards- Yunsung stayed where he was. Madam Sarene continued, "Don't worry, we're doing all we can to help her."

"No!" said Yunsung, "You don't understand. She needs an operation!"

"Of course she does." said Madam Sarene, "But it's not a very deep wound, we'll have it done soon. Now, I don't know what these spikes are...and I'm not sure how we could remove them...if at all..."

"What are you talking about?" Yunsung yelled- how could they be acting so calmly?? That wound was near fatal if they didn't do something fast! "The cut's _very, very deep!!" _he stressed, "She could die!"

"No it isn't, don't you fret young man!"she twittered, stepping in front of him and looking at him-she was about his height, "Come and look. See? It's not very deep at all, is it?"

Yunsung peered over to Tornado's back and saw, to his astonishment, that the wedge seemed smaller than it was before. It was like the chasm had shrunk, that the spikes had pushed it thinner. "But I swear it was deeper..."he said slowly, "I swear it was..."

"Now I think that's the heat getting to you." said Madam Sarene gently, finally succeeding in ushering him backwards, "Now, we're going to treat it, while you sit down over here with this young lady here. Goodness, you're hurt too?" she said to Taki in her motherly tone. She returned a withering look, which Madam Sarene ignored, pushing Yunsung down onto the chair beside Taki and attempting to lift up Taki's ninja outfit to look at the cut underneath. On her second attempt, Taki pushed her backwards and took out two blades from somewhere. Madam Sarene gasped loudly, and the whole room suddenly froze.

Yunsung initially thought that the reason Taki had acted in this way was because she, in a bizarre way, wore something similar to black hot pants underneath her robe-which was visible when Madam Sarene lifted it. However, given that the blades seemed to have come from underneath the robe, he thought otherwise. There were two seconds of silence, where Taki stood, blades arched in a stance with a piercing look in her eyes that was frightening. Then, the vocal, gruff-voiced guard said, "Put those away, woman! They have no place here!"

Taki's head moved to face him statically, letting her cold gaze wither him like it withered anyone. "Fine." she said, "Do not approach me without proper consent next time. It may be the last thing you do."

She let the impact of these words strike into every heart in the room, before putting the knives in the hilts on her back (where Soul Calibur usually was) and sitting down, with the same impassive glare. The nurses and the guards returned to their duties, each of them giving Taki nervous glances-in fact, the only reason why the guards were staying appeared to be because of her.

"What was that about?" Yunsung asked her.

"I have things hidden in my robes which are dangerous, too dangerous for just anyone to touch." she told him.

Yunsung smirked, "Like hot pants?"

Taki glared at him for a few seconds, as if forcibly restraining herself. Then, to his complete and utter astonishment, she smiled at Yunsung, and remarked, "Yes. Like hot pants."

He was completely flabbergasted. Taki? Making a sassy remark? She now had her eyes firmly fixed on the congregation around Tornado. As he continued to be confused, mind not functioning well due to his fatigue, Madam Sarene called him over.

"Now we really _must_ ask..." she declared, pointing to Tornado's back, "What _is_ this _growth_ she is experiencing? It's solid metal!"

"It's..."Yunsung wasn't sure whether to tell the truth or not- the people might react badly to the knowledge that Soul Edge was amongst them. He hesitated, thinking fast, "It's..."

"It's Soul Edge."said Taki's voice.

Yunsung closed his eyes with the damnation of the truth. The room gasped, and looked from Taki to Tornado in horror. Yunsung looked at Taki- she looked as emotionless as always- didn't she see that they could have been thrown out of this prime opportunity to cleanse Talim? Or worse, _killed?_ She just sat there, looking straight at Yunsung, then around at the others plainly, as if she hadn't realized what she had said.

"What...is...this _abomination..._" said Madam Sarene in a deathly voice, glaring at Yunsung, "_doing_ in my _practice_??"

"I can-I can explain!" pleaded Yunsung, backing away from the guard's spears now being forcibly pointed towards his face, and Madam Sarene's dangerous glare, "Look-just look at her, she's harmless! She doesn't mean to hurt people! I knew her before!"

"You better make your way very quickly out of this town, mate." said the tall black guard, his spear foremost of the others, pointing at the bridge of Yunsung's nose.

"No! Please!"he begged, "Please! I've been traveling for ages trying to find someone who can help her! I found Taki and she says she needs professionals to help remove the metal! Please! I'll pay you! I'll pay for the procedure!"

"Hmm..."Madam Sarene looked slightly swung by the offer of money, "This place could use a sprucing up..."

"Hold on, Madam!" said the guard, "We need to take into account that this is the most dangerous being on the planet right now! If she were to escape, she'd be the death of us all!"

"No!" Yunsung cut in, "She's weak, weakened by the cut and that she hasn't had people to feast on for a while-"

Madam Sarene shrieked. "Oh _lord!"_

"What?"

"Don't _say _such things!" she cried, looking visibly horrified, "_feast on people, _for goodness sake! You frightened the wits out of us!" She cast her hands around to the three other nurses, each looking about the age of him, who each were looking pale-faced and were fidgeting nervously. It came to Yunsung how much of an impact Tornado had had on these people- just by mention of her wrath, people were scared witless.

"It's all the more reason you should help her!" he insisted, "Help her and no-one will have to be scared any more! Thousands will be saved! Please!" He cast his eyes around at them, desperate for one of them to speak up and say yes. The people looked at each other deliberatively, "Please!" Yunsung pleaded- he couldn't fail now, not when he was so close! He looked up at Madam Sarene, who was visibly thinking in her head. The wait, which might have only been a few seconds, was unbearable.

Eventually, she said, "Alright, alright. I'll do anything to stop all of this."

The huge wash of relief was like a cool refreshing summer breeze. "Thank you." he said earnestly, and grabbed Madam Sarene's hand and shook it firmly, "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"I'll expect a nice, hefty sum when I'm done with this. I need a vacation." she remarked, looking weary. Then she grinned at the younger nurses, "I'm joking girls, I'm joking! Right, the procedure will begin tomorrow. You meanwhile can stay at one of the houses in the village-there's rooms for rent."

"Thank you." he said again, "Oh, wait! You wouldn't happen to have any rope would you?"

"Rope?" she said bemusedly.

"Um, yeah rope..."he said nervously, "We have to tie her down..." he pointed to the operating table.

Madam Sarene stared him, her light blue eyes almost popping out of their sockets and her mouth hanging open. Then, she did something Yunsung had only heard of happening in folk tales and fairy stories. Her eyes rolled to the ceiling, her knees swayed dangerously, and she fainted!


	19. Chapter 19: Hang in there, baby!

Ah, yes! Today was a good day! This chapter, something happened when I as writing it, a burst of inspiration, which made it so much better!Yes, this is definetly one of my better chapters!

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Yunsung talked groggily to Madam Sarene, who was getting increasingly anxious, about the procedure. He hadn't slept well- it appeared the drawback of actually having a bed to sleep in at long last was the resulting nightmares- Talim hanging upside down by the ankle over a cliff, crying out for Yunsung to help her, but he was getting more miniscule by the second. Talim lying on the ground with Soul Calibur in her chest, Taki saying she was sorry, but it had to be done. Talim's hand falling limp inside his own, it turning to ice, then dissapearing...

The plan was that Taki would use one of her Soul Calibur knives to cut the Soul Edge out of Tornado's body(other wielders of Soul Calibur formed much larger and less maneuverable weapons). They would use the strongest anesthetic available because, according to Taki, the procedure would be extremely painful otherwise. Madam Sarene, already irritated by the crude use of weaponry in the operation, insisted that the anesthetic was already quite dangerous itself- as well as not being able to feel anything, Tornado would also be weakened and exhausted of her life supports. Taki said then the quicker they performed the operation the better, and the anesthetic (which she appeared to recognize) was absolutely necessary. "By Yunsung's request." she hastened to add.

Tornado, who had been reportedly so foul-mouthed the night before that the young nurses cried, had to be turned over on her bed forcibly by Taki and Yunsung.

"_Bastards!"_ she roared once she had been turned over, her head propped up by the pillows, _"Ha, I enjoy the look of shock on their pathetic faces! Want more? Bitch! Whore! Fucker! C-_mmf!" Yunsung slapped his hand over her mouth.

"That's enough!"He insisted, as she turned her head to the side to glare at him.

Madam Sarene let out a huge sigh from behind him, as if she had come back from a long run, "Yes..." she groaned woozily, "Thank you...thank God she stopped...such vulgarity..."

"Easy, ma'am." said Yunsung as he tied a cloth across Tornado's mouth, as Taki beside him ran a finger across Talim's back as if mapping out incisions, "You might faint again. Stay calm."

"I'm going to, you know!" she said, pacing across the room slowly and resting with another pant in a chair, "I've never had such...I've never known how to deal with..."

"Taki'll handle it." he replied, "She's a ninja- apparently they get trained in like _everything_."

"It's true." said Taki, her proud-ness more distinct as she continued to trace Tornado's back, "It is almost definitely true!" she finished running her finger, and announced at last, "I believe we are ready to begin the procedure."

"Right! Righty-o!" said Madam Sarene suddenly, shooting up from her chair and bustling around the room in no particular direction, "Ladies, to your stations!" she instructed the nurses, who positioned themselves on either side of Tornado's bed, clad in their masks and wheeling tables lined with sterile equipment along with them. Taki had assigned Yunsung the role of "noticing Strange Peculiarities." He didn't know what kind of Strange Peculiarities he should be looking out for, but Taki addressed him with an air of great importance, so he was suddenly alert, his tiredness fading away. Madam Sarene was to look over the proceedings and assist the nurses. To complete the preparation, Taki climbed onto the bed and positioned herself sitting where Tornado's back ended, making not a sound or squeak from the bed as she did so.

Taki's first order was, "Administer anesthetic."

With shaking hands, one of the nurses took the syringe of anesthetic, and jabbed the needle into Tornado's arm. Then, tremulously, she pushed the top. Yunsung watched the purple liquid ooze down the syringe, until it was empty. He went around to Tornado's head. She looked at him through her malformed eyes sullenly, unable to speak through the gag. "G'night." he said, smiling. And it was a matter of seconds, before Tornado closed her eyes. Eyes closed, she already looked more human.

Yunsung nodded to Taki. "Brace yourselves." she commanded, "I am about to make the first incision. The blade is extremely strong and is able to cut through skin extremely easily. I will cut delicately, but be prepared for any blood. Soul Edge and Soul Calibur are two extremely volatile metals. Anything could happen."

A deafening silence passed, where Taki looked around at them all impressively. Then, she bent down and aimed the sharp edge of the knife at the very start of Tornado's back. Yunsung watched, inwardly wishing with all his heart, as Taki slowly and slightly cut the lowest and leftmost part of the metal shards on her back. As nothing happened, she continued to cut right through, her small eyes perfectly focused and her hands perfectly precise. The blade cut through Soul Edge like a knife through butter.

Taki stopped, having only cut a small part. "I am cutting dangerously deep in the skin. I will require an apron." One was instantly fetched by the flustered Madam Sarene, and she put it on, "Be prepared for blood."

Taki held the blade again, tight in her hand, and pushed it forward along the flat left side of Tornado's back, and the Soul Edge was cut so cleanly that it brushed across Taki's hand as she pushed forward. Yunsung was excited inside. Taki had almost done a whole strip- approximately a quarter- of Tornado's back, and the human skin, however reddened and strangely sun-burnt it looked, was beginning to show.

"Attention!" said Taki suddenly, as a small torrent of blood leaked out of the place where she had been cutting, and it leaked to the left. The nurse on that side reacted quickly, dabbing medical tissues, invigorated like Yunsung was over Taki's professional demeanor. Yunsung remembered his task. He checked Tornado's pulse. Lub-dub, lub-dub- normal. He put his hand on Tornado's head- it was wet and clammy.

"She's in a cold sweat." he remarked, looking at Taki instantly. But it was Madam Sarene who responded, "So would you be if you were getting a volatile metal cut out of your back!"

"My thoughts exactly." said Taki plainly. Yunsung and the nurses looked unanimously at Madam Sarene amusedly, who was looking quite pleased with herself.

"Can we get on with this?" said Taki boredly. She pushed on with the incision, and finally, she reached the very top of Tornado's back. One, long slice of shards the width of Taki's knife, sticking out of a thin piece of dead skin, Taki lifted up. "We are a quarter of the way there." she said, her triumph barely noticeable.

"Great!" Yunsung's voice came out in a whisper which still reached every ear in the room. One of the nurses took the line of shards away, as Yunsung rushed around to Tornado's head, which lay balanced on it's chin. He took it gently in hands and kissed her forehead, "Hang in there, baby. We're gonna make it!" he whispered.

Taki had already started the second strip. Yunsung watched as she began to cut her way upwards again. The atmosphere had changed in the room- Yunsung could feel himself breathing again. He anxiously checked around. Lub-dub-normal. Forehead-clammy and sweaty still. Skin-pale, but so would yours be...bla bla bla...mouth gagged...

"Flip! I forgot to remove her gag!"Yunsung exclaimed.

"She can breath through her nose, pet." said Madam Sarene, sounding a bit more serene.

"I better take it out just in case." he decided. He untied the white cloth at the back of Tornado's head, and pulled it off. He jumped backwards in horror as a flood of scarlet red poured from Tornado's mouth. "Taki, she's bleeding through her _mouth!_" he yelped.

Taki looked up at him slowly and dully. Then looked down again, and continued to cut through the metal.

"Taki..." said Yunsung slowly, as the nurses looked at her in horror, "Taki, what are you doing?"

"Finishing." she said, her eyes strangely alight, as she cut slightly faster. "Blood attention, please, nurses."

"Taki, Talim needs medical attention _now!"_ he demanded, coldness seeping through his veins.

"Once I have finished this strip!" she insisted.

"No! Taki, _Taki!!!"_ he screamed, as he touched Tornado's neck and he began to panic, _"Her rate's on fire, Taki!"_

"I am nearly finished." she said calmly.

"_She's red hot!"_ he bellowed as Tornado's head seared his hand, as he saw Tornado's own hands begin to shake.

"Now, really!"said Madam Sarene, angry.

Taki paused again, looked to her sides at the nurses, at Madam Sarene, and at the utterly horrified Yunsung. She looked down again. She was three-quarters of her way through the second strip. Reluctantly, she lifted up what she had done and cut the three-quarters off, so Tornado was left with two and a quarter knife-long strips of Soul Edge. She said simply, "Apply the necessary life support and solutions.", and lifted herself silently off the bed and towards the sink.

The practice went into total uproar when the quiet controlled atmosphere was replaced with pandemonium. The nurses, usually quiet, began to bark out commands and readings at one another- Yunsung only recognized the word "adrenaline". Madam Sarene looked worse than ever , her voice rising to a screech as her orders came out as muddled oaths. The jargon they used just made everything seem horribly worse to him- he had no idea what was going on, Taki had infuriated and confused him, and more importantly, there was nothing he could do to help Talim except to hold her head desperately against his and try to block out the blood, Taki, the screaming of the nurses, and try, just try his hardest to let all of his thoughts wash away, and dissapear into the depths of Talim's soft black locks.


	20. Chapter 20: Free her mind

Yes!! FINALLY the document manager is working again!! Well, this is a big chapter. But it's a good one, I assure you. Stuff happens. It'll be cool. There's swearing. You'll like it:P

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"What?"

"It's back, ma'am. The pulse is back."

"Oh...thank you, Heather, and thank heavens..."

Yunsung breathed a sigh of relief. The past few seconds had been hectic. Tornado's pulse had failed completely and the table began to shake with her convulsions. But at last, they had stabilized her. Her eyes were closed, her body was calm, as was her heartbeat. She looked as if she had been sleeping.

Yunsung snatched Madam Sarene out of mid-air as she swooned once more, "Watch!"

"ohhh...ohhh..."she moaned, as he heaved her back to her feet. She still wobbled precariously, "I can't take much more of this...I never thought I'd have to perform CPR in my whole lifetime...I'm just a doctor...in a little village...what have I got us into, girls?"

"Umm..." said one of the young nurses, who was called Heather, "The best training lesson ever?"

Madam Sarene smiled weakly, "I'd hate it for you girls to go into that kind of stuff!"

"We shouldn't have had to." said Yunsung. Everyone else fell silent. Yunsung's voice was forcedly low, his tone was firm. He was angry and everyone knew why, and everyone knew where he was going when he went off to the left.

"She is stable, or so I hear."

"You shut the fuck up!" Yunsung bellowed in Taki's face, pointing at her accusedly, "It was your fault she went into cardiac arrest! She could have _died_, Taki, and if she dies the deal's off!"

She sighed, "The situation was under control. Tornado is fine."

"The situation..." Yunsung gave a furious roar and swung his fist at Taki, but for a second all he could see was her moving it upwards. The next second, his arm was pulled painfully behind his back, and Soul Calibur was inches from his jugular vein.

"Am I making myself _clear?"_Taki threatened, pulling Yunsung's arm upwards so he squirmed with pain. "The situation was under control. Now, whether or not Tornado _dies_..." she jerked his arm upwards again, and he yelped, "in the next _procedure..." _she gave another painful yank, "depends on whether I'm in a good _mood_ or not!" She added a bone-crushing twist to the torture.

"Let go of my fricking arm!" Yunsung cried out in agony, feeling as if his bones were being pulled through the spokes of a moving bicycle.

"So I would keep my mouth and my fists to myself, if you please..." Taki continued threatening him coolly from behind his head.

"What is going on here?"

It was Madam Sarene's voice. Taki lessened her grip on Yunsung's arm, and he jerked it free instantly, moving two feet away from Taki before massaging his throbbing limb with his hand. She, Taki, was looking sullen and bored, as if nothing remotely interesting had happened in the past few hours. Madam Sarene stood in front of the two other nurses, who peeked in through the door of the room they were in- the kitchen (the practice doubled as a house).

"One more confrontation like that," said Madam Sarene threateningly, looking suddenly angry and invigorated, looking at Taki strictly, "And you will be _out_ of this practice!"

Taki raised her eyebrows, completely unperturbed, and then she looked at Yunsung smarmily. He sighed reluctantly, massaging his numbing arm, "We can't get rid of her." he said, "Otherwise we can't help Talim."

Madam Sarene looked at the both of them disapprovingly, "If there's one thing I can't take, it's _violence_ in my practice! You two ought to be ashamed of yourselves!" she bustled clatteringly around, fixing things which didn't need fixing, "_Why_ can't people just sit down and talk about things like _normal _people do??"

"I think we've both seen that Taki ain't normal." Yunsung whispered to Heather as he followed her out of the kitchen. She giggled silently.

OooOoOo

At nine o-clock the next morning Yunsung was up and ready for the next step of the procedure. As he arrived at the practice he saw Madam Sarene and the two nurses setting up equipment beside Tornado's bed. Taki was nowhere to be seen, but Yunsung couldn't spare thoughts for her. He went over to Tornado, who was lying face-up as she was placed for the night. He pulled up a chair beside her, and watched her for a few moments. She breathed gently. Her scarred face had healed slightly since he first found her, it becoming more wholesome and youthful again.

"Has she been okay?"he asked Madam Sarene.

"Yes, she's been alright." she replied, bringing across a table of instruments, as she went on, "I had Heather and Saidra check up on her routinely every few hours. Honestly, she's right as rain- and she's recovered so fast!"

"She's a survivor." said Yunsung, grinning.

"_Yunsung?"_

He gave a start. "She said my name!"he cried to the others excitedly. Tornado lay there, stirring slightly, as they all congregated around the operating table. Yunsung lowered his head to Tornado, and whispered, "Talim...how are you?"

Tornado's lips seemed to strain to form words. _"I lied..." _she muttered, her voice still a growl, but deep within it, Yunsung found meaning.

"About what?" he said gently, taking hold of one of her hands.

"_I was stupid..."_she mumbled.

"So was I..." said Yunsung, "I shouldn't have wanted Soul Edge in the first place..."

"_N-no..." _she said, her closed eyes scrunching up in distress, _"I lied..."_

"What about Talim, what about?" he urged her calmly. He wasn't too concerned about whatever it was he just wanted to know if she was alright in her head as well.

She took a great shuddering breath through her lips, and her tone changed, _"S-shut up...fucking..."_ and it changed again, _"Code...twenty...two..."_

Yunsung had never heard anything like this before, "What are you talking about, Talim?"

"_Wind..."_she said desperately, _"Wind...carries...guilt..."_ then, she breathed out, and began to snore softly. Yunsung looked at the nurses to the right of him questioningly; they shrugged their shoulders.

"It sounds as if she's in two minds..." said a cold voice. Yunsung jumped and whirled himself around- Taki stood there, looking at Tornado in a bored way.

"Taki! Don't..._sneak up_ on me like that!" shouted Yunsung, clutching the edge of the operating table. "How do you _do_ that?"

"Ninja desu." she said dully.

"...R-right..."he said, recovering slightly, "But- but what did you mean?"

"When part of such a possessive metal is removed...it would have an effect...the host would become more powerful...the soul within would overcome the Soul Edge...at the moment, it appears to be an internal battle..."

Yunsung sighed. "But you don't actually know this for sure, right?"

"Nothing in life is for sure." she said impatiently, "But I have relatively high perception skills. Now, we must continue the procedure. Can we have Tornado turned over?"

And so Tornado was prepared once more, the anesthetic was administered, and Taki was once again in the horse of the commander, cutting through the Soul Edge as the tension cut through the air and stilled it.

"Taki..."Yunsung warned, "Be more careful this time."

"Do not distract me." she said irritably. She cut through the Soul Edge at reasonable pace. Yunsung had to keep checking to make sure that Tornado's mouth wasn't blocked, even though he hadn't needed to gag her in the first place. The nurses and Madam Sarene were almost not needed apart from the odd blood flow which seeped from under Taki's hands. They waited loyally, not saying a word, just watching as Taki gradually cut away at the metal.

Taki finished the remaining quarter and one whole strip of Soul Edge, leaving only one more strip to go. Excitement started to build up in Yunsung again- it was nearly over. But he remained vigilant, knowing how he had got himself worked up before, only for everything to come crashing down. Her heart still went lub-dub. Her head remained cold and sweaty. He watched from above Tornado's head as Taki's hands moved slowly towards him, in the final strip.

"_Yunsung..."_

"Huh?" he looked down. Tornado's lips were moving. _"Yunsung?"_

"She's...she's awake..."he said, astounded.

Taki looked up mildly. The nurses and Madam Sarene each peered around towards Tornado's head.

"_W-what's happening?"_

Yunsung looked at Taki questioningly. Taki looked back at him sullenly, almost reluctantly, and said, "Is she in pain?"

He didn't know how to tell, so he knelt down so he was level with Tornado's head. Her eyes were still closed, but she continued to croak incoherently. "Talim...are you in any pain?"

"_N-no...not m-more than u-usual..."_

"She says not more than usual." he repeated for Taki. But yet again Madam Sarene chose that point to cut across her. "The anesthetic mustn't have worn off entirely yet...still, it wasn't meant to have worn off at all for at least another hour..."

"We must work quickly, then." said Taki.

"Only as quick as necessary, Taki." said Yunsung stiffly.

Over the next few grueling minutes, Taki reached the half-way point in the last knife-length strip of the Soul Edge. Yunsung stroked his fingers against Tornado's skin. _She's not so much Tornado anymore... _he thought, _I can't believe it...it's finally happening..._

Tornado's breathing grew heavier, and her eyes snapped open in front of him. The left was rapidly dilating, big, then small, then big, then small again. She stared right at him. Her breathing grew more rattly, and then she began to take deeper, wheezing breaths, as if she was hyperventilating.

"Something's wrong!" he said immediately, taking Tornado's pulse. However, it was only slightly faster.

"I noticed." Taki replied. "I am very nearly finished. She will hold on."

"I dunno, Taki..."he said warily. Tornado's eyes were turning fearful, and even though they were so malformed, she looked more frightened than insane. She began to raise the front of her body upwards, gasping for air. Yunsung took hold of her shoulders so she was still for Taki, who was literally inches away from the very edge of the final strip.

"_Help!"_Tornado roared, "H_elp! _Aaa_ggh!" _her voice rose higher and higher, and for a few seconds the growl disappeared.

"Hurry up, Taki, hurry up!" Yunsung yelled.

"There is no pleasing some people...there!"she said, "I have the final strip!"

"You-y-you..."he stuttered in reply. Tornado collapsed back onto the bed, panting- and the sound of her breathing filled the silent room. And it froze them- it froze them all- because they could tell by her breathing that her gutturalness had gone.

Yunsung quickly spoke to her, "Wake up! Wake up!"

She did. Her eyes opened. Her two big brown eyes.

"C-can you give me a smile?"he asked of her, tremulously.

And tiredly, relievedly, Talim grinned back at him.


	21. Chapter 21: Yunsung's Niche

Yes! I'm back! My computer is running again and I've been able to put work into these final chapters in between revising for my exams! This chapter is pretty long, but I've put loads of work into it and I really want you to read and review it. And don't forget that if you reviewed chapter 21 already (the note), you can send me a private message via my profile page. Thank you so much! This story has got the most reviews I've ever got for a story, and I'm hoping to reach the 100 review mark!

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Yunsung felt like his mind and his body were in separate worlds. He knew he was holding Talim's hand, and looking into her eyes as she lay propped up by pillows on the operating table. But he was finding it hard to believe they were his own hands and his own eyes looking at hers.

"I'm...I'm really really glad you're back." he said.

She smiled and went, "Mmm". Yunsung felt a rush to his head and realized he was blushing. He wasn't sure why.

"Everything seems to be in order here!" said Madam Sarene happily. She had been running checks on Talim. "She's completely clean!"

"That's great!" said Talim brightly. Yunsung reacted with another rush- her soft voice was too unbelievable to hear. It was something of Talim that he could never remember, but now that he had it was so familiar. It as if she was someone he never knew, but had always been there...

She was looking at him, "What's wrong, Yunsung? You look out of sorts..."

"Um..." his mind worked frantically, "I'm just...I'm really glad you're back, I guess..."

"Is that all you can say?" she asked him.

And he felt an alarm bell ring in his head. He tugged Talim's hand a little closer. "Talim, y'know, you're really...good...no wait...awesome, in fact...um..."

She began to laugh, "Why on earth are you acting so funny?"she exclaimed. As she continued to laugh, Yunsung felt a sinking feeling inside. Why was he acting like such an idiot? Why? He fell quiet again, as Talim looked at him curiously. Then he saw Heather appear at her side, and whisper into her ear. They both looked at him as they did so. "Oh..._oh..._" he heard Talim say, as Heather whispered on. When they had finished, Talim was frowning, but the edges of her lips had begun to twitch at him. Heather came over to Yunsung as well. But her words weren't quite as extended. "It's ok. You got this." She patted him on the shoulder in a friendly fashion, and went back to her work.

"Madam?" Yunsung's head whirled around as he heard Talim speak again. "Can I get up now?"

"Certainly- in fact I was just about to run a check on your little motor workings." said Madam Sarene, simply beaming at Talim. Yunsung guessed it was the thrill of a job well done, and the feeling of being back in charge. It made him wonder where Taki had gotten to, but just at that moment, Talim was on her feet and standing. She was right there standing in front of him. Her clothes were dirty and ripped and what he saw of her skin was scarred, but she was wonderful. And he was totally mesmerized.

Talim stretched and walked about. Yunsung rejoiced inwardly. His mind flashed back to when she walked beside him so long ago. Seemed such a small thing then.

Before long the motor skills test was done, and Talim stood beside him silently. Yunsung felt that he should stand up, so he did. They stood and looked at each other for a few moments, Talim smiling slightly. She held out her arms. He tried so hard to mimic the motion, his arms almost shaking as he held them out, and he took two steps toward her. And her body was against him. He had totally lost his bearings in this area. He didn't know where to touch, he didn't know where to put anything. But she already had her arms around him, her head above his left shoulder. The sheer confusion of it brought tears to Yunsung's eyes. He sniffed.

"It's ok, Yun, it's alright..."she said softly at his ear. He put his hands on her back tremulously. He found his niche, he found his place there, so warm and real. She was cradling him. "Ssh...it's ok, I'm here..." He felt her kiss his neck comfortingly. The tears stopped and Yunsung closed his eyes and took a deep breath, holding Talim close.

oOoOoOo

They didn't quite know what to do- something which met the verge between expressing dedication or moving too fast. So Yunsung suggested the seemingly tepid activity of fishing. They found a pond in one of the marshy and grassy valleys outside the small town and waded in. They simply stayed completely still and didn't make a sound or movement, until a fish swam below them. Then they would lunge. The tension was rife- Yunsung anxiously waited for either a fish to swim under him or the opportunity to laugh if Talim missed. He made the first catch- a modestly sized trout. They decided to cook it.

All the while Talim seemed to have been itching to say something to him. And Yunsung knew he had a few things to tell her as well. While the fish simmered above the makeshift range they had built out of twigs, Talim spoke up in a quiet voice.

"I really need to tell you something now..."she said tentatively, kneeling on the other side of the fire, an orange hue lighting up the right side of her face as the sun began to disappear..

Yunsung shook his head, looking determinedly at the fish cooking, "Let me go first."

"But..." Talim's voice was weak, "This is really...really important...and...bad..."

He nodded vaguely.

"I'm serious." she said , glancing from him to her hands, which were closed on her lap. "It could be...it could mean..."

"Talim." said Yunsung suddenly, realizing he had to get out what he had to right now, "I'm sorry for not listening to you about Soul Edge. I was ignorant and arrogant and so goddamn sure of myself! I should have believed you."

"Oh." she said, quite surprised at his quick delivery, "That's okay."

"It's not okay." he said, shaking his head, "If I had just listened to you...the wind god is real, I could feel it helping me all through this journey, pushing me along. I've said your prayer and everything."

"That's good." she said, smiling weakly, "That's really good."

"It isn't!!" he said, unsatisfied with her lukewarm reaction, "I just got you possessed for months!"

"I didn't feel anything..."Talim replied slowly, "I mean, it was unbearable when it happened. But...but I feel like I've lost my memory...like I've just been lying dormant...except for once. I felt this unbearable pain, and I saw your face, and the face of a girl with black hair and small eyes and...and another time, and I saw you on top of me and pushing me down when I was on the ground..."

"That must have been Soul Calibur..."

"Soul Calibur???" Talim started, her face looking suddenly straight at him, her eyes very wide, "You got Soul Calibur??"

"Yeah...I mean...Taki got it. That's the girl with small eyes you saw. She said she found Soul Calibur at Osterheinsenburg..."Yunsung explained all about how he found Taki, and how she had found Soul Calibur at Osterheinsenburg. Talim explained that she was too weak after defeating Nightmare to destroy Soul Edge with Soul Calibur, so it entered and possessed her. Soul Calibur was left lying there for Taki to take.

"Taki must be very strong of will to have cut out the Soul Calibur." said Talim thoughtfully, "I was too busy thinking of you...I didn't wait for you, I just had to destroy Soul Edge. And I was thinking of how sad you'd be of not meeting me. But, anyway, the point is that I didn't feel anything until just now. I just feel a big gap in my life. And Yunsung, I forgive you for not believing me. You couldn't help yourself..."

"But...but..." Yunsung stammered.

"Turn the fish over." said Talim, pointing at the fast browning skin. He did, forcedly and quickly flipping it with a stick, so the scales were ripped off and stayed stuck to the twigs, "Talim, if I had just gone with you, we could have done it together! It's my fault for Soul Edge not being destroyed!"

"No. It was my fault." she interjected, then frowning so sadly it forced Yunsung into silence. She sniffed ashamedly. "I...it's complicated...Yunsung, do you still have the necklace you gave me?"

He had no idea what it had to do with it, but he took it out of his pocket. "Yeah, here it is." it was blazingly lit up by the flames. "You said-"

"I said I wasn't allowed to take it with me." Talim sighed miserably, hanging her head, her black hair covering her eyes, "I said it was my religion. Yunsung...I...I lied to you."

Yunsung paused. He still didn't realize the significance. "So...so you didn't want the necklace? You just didn't like it?"

She shook her head, "It's a beautiful necklace, and I was so touched when you gave me it. But Yunsung..."she took a deep breath. Her lips trembled. "It's so terrible of me..."

"What? Look, if you didn't want the necklace-"

"I was trying to forget you!"

Her voice seemed to echo a hundred times in Yunsung's head. A tear leaked down Talim's cheek, and eventually she reached up and placed her thumb and fingers over her eyes, her face turning redder. She let out strangled sob. Yunsung meanwhile turned the fish over a couple of times with the stick, turning the thought over in his mind as he did so. He spoke in a voice which didn't sound like his own. "Why?"

She let out another sob, covering her mouth and exposing her tearful, pretty eyes.

"You got..."Yunsung blew through his nose heavily, "You got someone else at home?"

"N-no." she shook her head frantically, more tears seeping from her eyes and taking deep breaths as her sobs continued to catch in her throat.

"Then what is it?"

She gulped, then cleared her throat and took her hand away from her mouth. "I was talking to Mina..."

Yunsung was more incensed- now Mina was involved as well? "Well, what's she been saying?"

"She said..."she gulped again, "She said you got bored with all your other girlfriends and just abandoned them. But that was a lie, it was a lie, i should have known...I should have-"

"It's true."

There was a pause. She looked at him, eyes wide and tears drying with shock, "It...it is?"

"Yeah." Yunsung said guiltily, absentmindedly turning over the fish. This was one of the main things he hoped Talim would never find out. But he supposed now it was for his own good.

"But..." she whispered, "How could you-"

"They were all crap." he said, shaking his head angrily at himself, "I went for girls who were flirty and exciting. They all just got boring. You were different."

"I haven't got much in front..."she said quietly, and with a quiver of humour in her voice.

He smiled at her. "Have too. Have two. Sorry." she giggled nervously, and he went on, "But, yeah..I just abandoned them, pushed off and got another one. But none of them were really that exciting. Not like you are..."

"So..." she went on, "I tried to forget you by giving you back the necklace. But I never could. I was a day in that boat and I...I was so ashamed I cried. I thought about you all the time, all through the journey as much as I tried hard not to. And I thought of you too much when it came to destroying Soul Edge...and as a result, it captured me..."

"It was my fault, then." said Yunsung miserably, hanging his head, feeling worse than he'd ever felt in his life. There was a pause. Then Talim stood up and walked right over to him. She knelt down beside him as he stared at the fish and poked at it lamely. He felt her hands turn his head towards her. She was looking, unbearably, right into his eyes. Hers were red-rimmed. "Yunsung, we've both made mistakes, haven't we?"

"Yeah, I guess so." he said sadly.

"But...but I love you more than anything else." she said solemnly, "Do you feel the same?"

"Yes." Yunsung replied, reaching his hand to her side and rubbing.

"Then...as much as this sounds like sweeping everything under the carpet...then isn't that all that matters?"

Yunsung didn't know how he could shove the whole thing behind him. The rescue of Talim had been life-changing. He felt older, more responsible, more experienced, and even more afraid of what he might do next. But he also felt stronger. "Yeah."

She smiled, and he smiled back. They shared a kiss.

oOoOoOo

Walking back to the town with Talim's head resting on his shoulder made Yunsung feel as if he was feet tread on a path made of gold. He told her about some of the dreams he'd had about her. She was sympathetic and touched- she didn't laugh or tease. Her eyes were glazing off into the sky so he could admire her small face from an angle.

Entering the town, they saw Taki walking past. Yunsung hailed her.

"Taki!"He said, stuck for something else to say. Talim said nothing, looking curiously at the ninja.

"Hello." said Taki plainly, her eyes darting furtively between him and Talim, "So this is Talim."

"Hi." said Talim timidly, holding out her hand for her to shake. After a quick look-over, Taki shook it stiffly.

Yunsung spoke up, "Taki...Taki, I don't know what to say to you, I really don't." he said to her, stepping closer to look at her more solemnly, "Having Talim back, you don't know what it means to me...how can I ever thank you...?"

"A deal is a deal." said Taki dutifully, "I have the shards, you have Talim. That is thanks enough."

"_What?!"_ Talim exclaimed, turning to look at Yunsung incredulously, "You promised to give her the _shards_? The shards that _imprisoned _me?"

"Talim, I was desperate!" said Yunsung, looking warily at Taki's disapproving expression.

"I don't care _how_ desperate you were, Yunsung! I'd rather die than let Soul Edge live." she turned to Taki, "Give us the shards! I'm sorry, but they must be destroyed for the good of everyone."

"That will not be necessary." said Taki, folding her arms and smiling smartly, "They have already been destroyed."

"You have?" said Yunsung, quite baffled- this was not Taki's normal behaviour, "But I thought you needed them to give to your sensei?"

"After seeing the destruction it raged and the effect it had on Talim it was imperative that it be destroyed." Taki said dully.

"Yes!" said Talim, jumping on the tips of her toes "Finally, we've got it!"

Yunsung was amazed at this outstanding amount of care coming from her, "Taki...you're just making me more speechless!" said Yunsung, shaking his head at her, "How much more are you going to surprise me?"

"No more." she said, shaking her head back at him.

"Why?"

"I am going to leave and take on another assignment elsewhere." she said in an emotionless tone, "Preferably one which does not involve demon-possessed swords. Assassination was what a ninja was made for, and I haven't assassinated someone in a long time."She smiled to herself for a moment, then said to him, "and besides, if i stay around you much longer, I may end up assassinating _you_, Yunsung."

Yunsung grinned. "I guess this is goodbye."

"Hopefully." she replied.

Unable to thank her enough, Yunsung held out his arms and went towards her. She backed off a step, but he continued and hugged her around the neck. She didn't return it but allowed him a few seconds.

"That is quite enough." she said, and he withdrew, "Goodbye, Yunsung and Talim."

"Bye!" they waved her. And she turned around and headed for the north gates, and Yunsung and Talim watched her retreating body, her shoulder blades jolting with her upright walk.

"She's a bit strange, isn't she?" said Talim curiously to him, holding his hand, "Not too sociable."

"Yeah." Yunsung said, smiling at Taki's briskly disappearing figure, "But y'know what? I think she's really got a big heart underneath all that ninja stuff."

"Yes..." said Talim, as Taki took on a burst of speed and jumped over the city wall, "I think so too."


	22. Chapter 22a: Conclusion pt1

This conclusive chapter turned out so long that I had to split it into two chapters, so then you could come back to it if you haven't got time to read the whole thing. Anyway, this is _the_ conclusion to The Calming of the Storm. I hope you enjoy it.

Japan, five years later.

Taki had deliberated with herself for five long years, after cleansing Tornado and obtaining the shards, whether to go through with what she had originally planned or not. She left the two lovers quickly, with hurried farewells to each of them, using every part of her ninja will for self-restraint. They were confused. She had walked briskly away from them, trying to keep her upright posture, but before she knew it, she had broken into a run.

For as much as she hated herself for it, she felt a certain emptiness whenever she settled into a forest at night without the youthful, handsome boy or the diminutive black-haired girl tied against one of the trees. It wasn't right, she told herself, it wasn't right and it was weak, a weak thing to have, and the big thing ninjas detested was weakness. Ninjas do not have weaknesses- even a weakness for one or two in particular was not satisfactory- a demon or a malevolence could suddenly be present in them, and the ninja would be killed- Ninja rule number one: Do not be killed, especially not by someone who was not a ninja! And she knew she had the weakness.

The weakness had presented itself when Tira attacked her in the forest. Taki was feeling rather content that night, having Yunsung taught her something she had never heard of-humility and heroics being one and the same. As a result, she did not sleep as attentively as she usually did- rather she slept deeply, blissfully unaware that she was about to be attacked. If it wasn't for Yunsung's warning, and how he quickly struck at the girl in green, Taki would be dead, whereas on a normal night, it would be Tira who would have been dead, or at least by the throat. One question had been bugging Taki all these five years- _how_ could Yunsung have noticed the threat and not her??

It was the big reason why she returned to Japan and to her sensei successfully, Soul Edge in hand, ready to present to her master and hopefully he would tell her she was a true ninja at last. She would be reassured if he told her.

The ninja village was surrounded by many trees, clear, clean creeks and greenery, as well as ornate sculptures and pottery carved by the ninjas as part of their training. The path to the gates was long and winding. She walked calmly, recording her every movement as an epic one, the final journey of a legend who would be renowned for generations!

"Stop right there!"

Taki bristled, ready- aha, some other ninja was going to try and steal her bounty and win the sensei's regards! She'd expected it. But alas, down from the trees descended Talim and Yunsung, weapons raised. It was impossible, but in the same way inevitable.

"What are you doing here???" Taki roared, her blades arched.

"To stop you!" Talim's fair, valiant voice wisped through the still air to her ears. Her eyes were healed, both big and brown, and the scars on her face were less noticeable. Her chest was slightly more ample than it was before, and she was taller, now reaching Taki's own height. Her once intricately tied hair now hung loose around her still keen face of a woman of twenty, "You lied to us!"she yelled, "You said you destroyed Soul Edge, and you didn't! You-"

"How did you know???" Taki screamed back; she had left so discreetly, she had not spoken to anyone, she had never taken off her ninja robe- how could they have known???

"The wind brought me the forebodings!"Talim cried, holding her tonfas to the sky in reverence, "It told me Soul Edge was still present in the world, and it led us here, to you!"

Taki was enraged, "You vile, obnoxious, heathenish pig of a girl! I'll-"

"Taki!" She was forced to look into the green eyes of her one-time companion, Yunsung. Five years hadn't done that much to him- he still looked quite youthful. He now wore full-length white trousers instead of his childlike shorts, but he still wore his flamed waistcoat. "Taki, you're making a big mistake! You know what's right and wrong here!" His voice was slightly deeper. "Didn't we talk about things like this?"

"Ha!" she bellowed, "You were naïve enough to believe such drivel?"

"So...so that's it?"he said, looking angry, but also quite unnerved, "So it was all a facade? The kindness, the bravery you offered us, it was all a lie just to get the shards?"

She gave a cold, mirthless laugh, "Yes, you fool! The joke about the undergarments, the naivety of trusting the villagers- all a lie to make you believe I wasn't a threat!"

He stared at her. Yunsung couldn't believe he was hearing such things from her. He had never thought it was a lie all along, he thought she was just pressurized. "You're unbelievable!"he exclaimed, outraged, "That's completely disgusting! You talked about heroism and bravery- so you don't even desire those things? You want to get the shards to your sensei! But for what Taki? For what?"

She paused. She panted, still arched in her stance, giving each of them warning looks. Then, she snarled, "It matters not! When I reach the sensei I will be honored above all other ninjas!"

"For _what??"_Yunsung asked insistently.

"_I have already told you, it matters not!!!"_she screamed, "It is a matter of honor and a job done! Now go away from this place and never come back, or you will meet a very, _very_ quick death!"

"No." said Talim, shaking her head slowly at her, "We're not leaving without those shards."

And she and Yunsung simultaneously took a step forwards. Taki stayed still, her small eyes darting to each of them rapidly, her weight changing from foot to foot, shifting across the ground, giving them, Yunsung knew, a few seconds to attack. When they didn't, Taki screamed, "CHAI!"and shot towards Yunsung, her blades aimed at his neck.

He brought up White Storm to block the blades as was his practice. She began to let fly with increasingly swift slashes towards his face, neck and torso. He blocked one, two, three times, then swung his sword aggressively at her. She dodged, but it was never intended to hit, for he threw up his free hand to hold one of her swords at bay, as she swung the other. She was too strong for him to hold, snapping free, bouncing back once, rolling along the ground, and letting a jab fly towards Yunsung's torso- he had to lean right backwards to dodge it, and it scraped painfully across his shoulder.

Angered, but proceeding with his plan, Yunsung held off Taki's speedy strikes, trying to slide the blades away so she was caught off balance. But her strike was impressive; every block he did opened up an opportunity to slash her other blade at him. Finally, he was forced to use his hand, throwing it down onto Taki's right hand while he let Taki's blade slide across his sword. At great risk, he dropped White Storm and took hold of her arm, holding both the blades upwards and away from him. Her eyes pierced into his as she gritted her teeth, and she pulled her arms as hard as she could, trying to free herself from his grasp. But before she could, she was being seized around the neck and pulled backwards, and seemed to realize too late that she'd forgotten about Talim.

"NO! Get off me!" she yelled, as Talim pulled her backwards by the throat, dragging her along the ground, "Get off me you impudent girl!"

Yunsung watched Talim pull Taki to the ground and sit on top of her legs, facing her and still forcing down her hands. Yunsung went around to hold Taki's hands for her, and he tugged Taki's blades out of them and threw them just far enough to be out of her reach.

"No!" she roared again, "No!"

"Where are they?" Talim said, zealously looking into Taki's eyes fiercely. "Where are they or I'll search you, every inch of you!"

As suddenly as she'd fired up, Taki silenced, and the angry colour faded from her cheeks, and she lay her head back onto the ground and heaved a sigh through her nose. She didn't say anything, but regarded them dully. She looked like she'd given up, but Yunsung knew better.

"Are you going to tell us?" Talim asked again.

Taki gave a slow, unnerving blink.

"Right." Talim drew her gaze on Taki's robe put her hands together in a kind of preparation, "I didn't want to do this. I really didn't want to do this." and she really didn't- she looked a little repulsed as she laid her hand on Taki's wide, black belt, "But it has to be done."

And with that, Talim loosened the belt, and slowly, tremulously opened Taki's ninja robe. As Yunsung expected, Taki wore nothing underneath it. On Taki's toned abdomen was the scar Tira had given her five years previously, as well as many, many others from past battles, some of which Yunsung would have been proud of, and just below that were those black hot-pant-looking things which looked like part of a cat suit. Yunsung looked elsewhere, and saw that what was on either side of her chest (which was admittedly distracting to him), on the splayed open inside of the ninja robe, was something else altogether.

There must have been sixteen small leather pouches, eight on either side of the robe- they were of the kind used to hold marbles; each one was strapped to her robe in rows of two. Yunsung let Taki's hands go briefly before kneeling on them, and then reached forward and unhooked one of the leather pouches from it's brass clasp on the black strip it was on, the same material as Taki's belt. He loosened the white string which bound the noose of the bag, and retched and flung his head back at the foul stench which emitted from it. He repositioned the bag a considerable distance from his face, and saw a shiny glimmer; the fiery metal of Soul Edge.

"It's here! It's in these bags!"he announced, feeling enlightened with relief and success. Taki looked bored with the proceedings.

"Right, good." Talim replied, sounding a little disgusted, her eyes blinking rapidly each time she saw Taki's chest, "Sorry...I was hoping I'd never have to do this..."

"It's not _that_ bad!" said Yunsung, grinning.

"You would say that! You're so typical, Yunsung!"she exclaimed, but as had been usual across these past 5 blissful years with her, Yunsung knew she was amused. "I didn't know they could get so big...oh dear...right, focus, focus, loot the shards then."

Yunsung began to unclip each and every one of the leather bags from the right hand side of Taki's robe, while Talim took the left, Taki's hands still safely held under Yunsung's weighty knees. Talim dictated a dry, scathing running commentary to Taki:

"Ah yes yes, it all makes sense now. You just cut all the shards off the strips of skin and...what's this?-" (she took a small,empty bottle out of an inside pocket in Taki's robe)- "Of course, to hide the smell of Soul Edge. But it looks as if it ran dry. That's why I and the wind could find you, and that's how we've got you now!" Taki just looked back at her, her face becoming more of a snarl.

Meanwhile Yunsung would pass the shards to Talim, who would put them in a large leather bag she had prepared and attached to her belt. Once they had them all, Talim instructed, "On the count of three, we jump off her, okay?"

"Got it."

"One...two...three!"

They both jumped to their feet and backed right off. Yunsung watched closely, White Storm out and ready as Taki got up slowly and methodically. She closed and belted her robe and picked up her blades. She raised them.

"You've got no chance, Taki." said Talim (She always did the talking). "You back right off as well."

Taki's eyes darted to each of them, as if deciding between them who she wanted to kill first. She muttered something under her breath. Then, suddenly, she pounced at Yunsung again.

"She's at me, Talim!" he called, raising White Storm high above his head as Taki landed beside him, and he readily swung it at her. But the sword went through her very image, leaving a gap of air. And she faded in front of him, as if he was looking at her through a window, and then disappeared altogether.

"Talim, she's gone!" he moved backwards, expecting to feel Talim's back against his as it would when they covered each other. It didn't come. He heard a choking sound from behind him instead.

Yunsung whipped around. Talim's eyes were popping and her mouth was agape in shock and astonishment, making the choking sounds. And Taki was behind her, looking at Yunsung savagely from over Talim's shoulder. Taki pulled something out of Talim, and Talim jerked forward. Her shivering eyes wavered to focus unsteadily on Yunsung's face. Then she wobbled and fell forward on top of Yunsung, who just caught her. There was a huge red gouge in the left of her back.

"T-Talim...?" he shook her- her head lolled. Yunsung eased her down onto the ground, but not before Taki had attempted to go past him. He swiftly swung his leg along the floor and tripped her, "No, you don't!" he shouted. She tried to get up but he was already on top of her, tugging her knives free from her grasp. He punched her, hard, five times on the side of her head. After making sure she was too dazed to get up, he hurried over to Talim, who was lying face up and still, eyes open and watching him.

"Talim..."Yunsung said to her urgently, "Talim, speak to me!"

"I..."Talim gasped, her jaw shivering and her body keeled over slightly in pain, "I...could be dying..."

"No, you're not!" he said determinedly, turning her over and examining the gaping wound. Taki had managed to hit the exact spot where he threw White Storm at Tornado five years ago. That had always been her Achilles Heel afterwards, and this gouge was much deeper and more deadly...

"Yunsung..."Talim gave a rattling cough.

"What is it, love?"he said, turning her back over and holing her hand with his two.

"You m-must chase Taki away..."she told him, "Th-then you must come back...take the shards and destroy them...Soul Calibur is in the bag...I took it from her..."

"Talim, I can't leave you..."

"If you carry me anywhere...I will die quicker..."she gasped. "There she goes!"

Yunsung spun around and saw Taki disappearing into a bunch of trees to the left. He looked at Talim for what could be the last time, and then set off after Taki, determination swallowing him up.

"Stop!" he called. But she already had- in the middle of a large clearing with a beautiful lake beside it. She was looking at him, her small eyes fierce and dangerous, the right one blackened and squinting from Yunsung's punches.

"I would tell you to stand aside, but I would still kill you anyway." she snarled.

Yunsung roared and charged at her, swinging White Storm faster and harder than he could ever remember, but Taki was putting in the exact same effort, her knife blades simply throwing Yunsung's this way and that. Finally, she stumbled backwards. Yunsung, who in his anger didn't care if he killed her, stabbed into Taki's torso.

But again, it shot straight through air, and the image disappeared. Yunsung looked around him and found she was to his left. He swung at her, but she faded again. He turned around one hundred and eighty degrees and took a step backwards at the shock of what he was seeing.

There were eight identical Takis in a curve around him, smiling fiendishly at him. Yunsung couldn't run- in front of him were the Takis and behind him was the lake. He deliberated about diving in and swimming the lake, when the Takis said unanimously, "Go on, take a guess. Which one of us is real?"

Yunsung paused and then understood- Taki was only cloning images of herself. One of the eight Takis in front of him had to be real. But which one? If he attacked the wrong one, he would be wide open to an attack by the others. He had a one in eight chance. He may as well take it.

He peered at the Takis suspiciously, who all stood there, stock still and wearing the same fiendish smile. None of them blinked or scuffled or looked in the least different from the others. He would have to take a complete guess. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and swung...

"YOU LOSE!" Came a scream, and Yunsung found himself being choked around the neck by unmistakably the real Taki. The other Takis vanished, as Taki dragged him, flailing and struggling but not getting anywhere, towards the lake.

"Assassinating you will be the peak of my career!" screamed Taki fiercely into his ear. Yunsung heard her feet enter the water with a soft splash, "And don't you worry, I'll go back and make sure your little wife is dead too!"

Yunsung tried to scream 'no' but he could barely breathe. Suddenly he felt Taki shove him headfirst into the water. He choked and spluttered, pushing himself off the ground to try and get out but Taki's strong grip around his neck meant he couldn't escape. He could feel his consciousness fading, his life dripping away...

But suddenly Taki had stopped holding him down. He threw himself backwards and out of the water, and was blinded by a gold and red light. He raised his arms to cover his eyes as his ears rang with a horribly familiar screaming coming from his left:

"_WHICH ANGEL DID THE DEVIL'S BLOOD BLEED INTO TONIGHT?"_

Yunsung couldn't remain conscious for the answer.

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Thats the end of Part 1! Hurry onto Part 2!


	23. Chapter 22b: Conclusion pt2

"Honey? Honey? 'Sung?"

The blackness of Yunsung's eyelids seemed to swirl. His brain wanted to wake up and greet Talim, but his body was too tired, his head was too hot...he could just fall asleep...

But at that moment something like a speck of rain dashed between his fluttering eyelash. His head juttered with the heat of the small droplet which swum over to his left tear duct, further swimming his vision. "Yunsung, you're alive!" and he felt an unusually strong set of arms pick up his head and cuddle it against something warm and soft. His neck ached as it was lifted up, and then the rest of his aching chest and abdomen, so he might have been sitting up if he stopped rocking from side to side...

Suddenly a sudden slap on the back brought him back to earth, his eyes shot open as he keeled over, coughing and spluttering the last drops of water out of his gullet. "That's better..." he heard Talim say soothingly.

"Sweet Almighty!" were the first two things he said, still gasping for air. His ears started to work a little better- he could now hear the ripplings of water which meant they were still at the lake. He remembered Taki had been trying to suffocate him. He searched for Talim's face.

"Where is she?"

"She's away, my love." she said calmly to him, "she's gone."

He found himself reaching forward to make sure she wasn't a ghost. Her very warm and very solid hand entwined with his. "What happened?" he asked, still finding his breath.

She frowned, "We may not have time for the story. Our mission is complete, however, there is a...complication. A sacrifice, if you will..."

Yunsung struggled with his hazy brain to think, "I don't understand." he muttered, "Do you mean Taki?"

"No." she replied. "I'm sorry, Yunsung. I'm very very sorry."

He almost laughed. "What have you done now?"

She paused, so only the soft noise of the lake could be heard. She said, "Soul Edge was destroyed. I discovered...I discovered it cannot use the same host twice...The soul becomes to strong..."

Yunsung suddenly realized what she was talking about, and taking hold of her shoulders fearfully, he said fearfully "You didn't."

"I did." she said sadly.

He shook his head at her. He went on shaking it, unable to believe she was killing herself, was about to fade before his eyes. The way her eyes were looking at him told him there was no point in yelling or crying or screaming.

"Yes. I had to." Talim said quite calmly and gravely, "You know why I did it." she said, "You know why I took in Soul Edge. I couldn't risk it falling into Taki's hands. Now it will be absorbed by my body, ultimately draining my life-lines. There's nothing you can do. I'm sorry. I saved you so I could spend time with you..."

Yunsung paused for a moment, his heart beating so hard against his chest it was like he had run a marathon. Then, suddenly he said, "We will, love, we will." and sat down beside her, putting his arm around her. "How long do we have?"

"Hours." she said, putting her soft head of hair on his shoulder. "Not long."

"Enough." Yunsung replied, leaning over and kissing her several times on the neck to let her know.

"It's a bit open..." said Talim breathlessly, as her once grave murmur began to change to a more enticing drawl. "Isn't it?" For a moment, Yunsung paused for thought. Then he stood up, took Talim's hand to help her to her feet, and slowly guided her into the trees that had been behind them.

OooOoOo

"You have never been better, Yunsung." Talim sighed.

"Neither have you." He replied in a satisfied tone. They were back out in front of the lake, fully clothed again, admiring the beauty of the water and the sunny sky above. Yunsung was sitting down, and Talim was lying beside him, her head on his lap. There were no physical signs yet that Talim was fading, but it must have been happening, Yunsung knew not to ever doubt her. He was just thinking about the best way to spend their last few moments together.

"Hey Talim, " he said, looking down at her head on his lap. He liked how her eyes looked from this angle, "Want to go fishing again?"

"Alright." she replied, smiling. Yunsung shifted out from underneath her, stood up and lifted her up from under her arms and onto her feet. She stayed up for a second, and then began to fall backwards. Yunsung caught her, "Got you. C'mon." He started to push her back up again.

"I- I can't!" Talim cried, "My legs won't move!"

And sure enough Talim's legs didn't seem to have any life left in them from where Yunsung saw- they just hung from her body like a rag doll's. "They're...they're gone..." she whispered.

"It's ok! It's ok!" he said hurriedly, laying her back down and trying to calm her. He stroked her hair back behind her head for her and knelt beside her, "We can just talk, alright."

"Alright." said Talim unsteadily, "Um...I love you."

"I love you too." said Yunsung, grinning.

There was a silence which seemed to last for ages after that, where they just looked at each other, frowning, unable to say anything. Talim sighed, "Not much to say, really, is there?"

"Yeah." said Yunsung thoughtfully. He guessed he'd better say what had been on his mind since he heard about how she consumed Soul Edge, "Talim, what am I going to do once you're gone? My life pretty much revolves around you...I wouldn't know where else to turn or to go or to do..."

Talim was visibly very moved, "That's both the best and worst thing I've ever been told." she said tremulously.

Yunsung shook his head, "What am I going to do?" he sighed, his grief beginning to overcome him.

"Oh 'Sung, I know you're going to find happiness somewhere." she said lovingly, taking hold of his hand, "I know it."

He smiled at her, trying to force back the tears which were threatening to burst from his eyes.

"Why..." said Talim thoughtfully, "Don't you try Mina? She loves you, y'know. She'll look after you."

"I don't really see it some how." he remarked.

She laughed, but in mid-laugh took a deep, hoarse breath as if she was being choked. Yunsung reacted quickly, lifting her upwards to try and help her to breathe.

"Talim?"

"It's alright...I'm just..."she gasped, as her breathing began to become deeper, faster and more urgent, "going...I'm...going...I..." she grasped the hairs on the back of his head and pushed, "I love you..." She pulled their lips together with her very last ounces of strength. Yunsung begged her lips to stay with his, but they fell back with her head. She was gone.

But as soon as Yunsung was about to resign to his own greif, she wasn't. Her eyes snapped open again, one of her hands went straight to her heart and the other gripped Yunsung's shoulder painfully. "Run!" she gasped, before he could react, "Just run! Get away from here!" and then as quickly as she had awakened, she collapsed once more.

"What? Run away from what?" Yunsung cried to her lifeless body as the winds began to pick up around him. He shook her, "From what? Talim...Talim please don't go!" he cried, about to bury his head into her unmoving body, unaware of the gusts beginning to push him.

He heard a high scream from somewhere. He looked up, and just as he did something smashed into him from the side and he hurtled through the air, something keeping a very tight grip around his body as the trees whizzed by in front of him at a phenomenal speed.

_Smash!_ He felt his shoulder bash into the bark of a large tree, and he fell a couple of feet to the ground, somebody else landing on top of him. "Are you alright?" said a female voice.

"You're gone. You're dead." said Yunsung, still dazed from the collision and unwilling to believe who he was talking to.

"I wish I was. But I'm not." said Taki.

"I suppose you're happy." said Yunsung angrily, preferring to stare back towards the clearing than look at her. He could just see the trees farthest away being fiercely battered by the wind there. Except here there was very little wind at all.

"I am not. I am finding it difficult to come to terms with." she replied.

"You're telling me." he said grumpily, "But we're not talking about the same thing, _are_ we?"

"Yes." she said, in a different tone than usual, "We are."

Yunsung was so surprised that he braved looking at her. Taki sat beside him, staring at the grass and not at him for once, looking completely and utterly lost for words for once, looking completely defenseless. For once. She wasn't visibly sad, but just looking at her Yunsung could tell that sadness was something difficult for someone like her to come by.

"You're even more unbelievable than I thought." he said to her spitefully.

She didn't reply.

"I don't know why I'm not stabbing you." he continued vindictively.

"Please do." she said tonelessly, "At least my final act will be a good one."

"What good act could someone like _you_ ever do?" Yunsung snarled.

Taki looked at him concernedly(yes, concernedly), "Did you not want to be rescued? If you didn't...if you didn't then please kill me anyway."

"No." said Yunsung, turning away from her again to look at the clearing. The trees were getting punished even worse, and behind them was a great, swirling grey blur. "I'm not going to give you that kind of satisfaction."

"Apt. Apt." she said, her voice going up an octave. Again, Yunsung felt compelled to look at her – it was something he couldn't believe. Taki was short of breath, her normally pale cheeks began to turn pink, and her small eyes were beginning to swim.

"You're disgusting!" was the only thing Yunsung could say to her.

"I know!" she cried, bursting into tears, and screaming through gnashed teeth, "Here I am now, the infant life has always tortured me with! I am no stronger than a child! I am nothing, failed as a ninja, failed in goodness already!" She gasped, tears now streaming from her eyes, and screamed, "SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

"Shut up!" Yunsung shouted.

Taki did immediately. She sniffed. The was an ominous howling noise coming from the clearing.

"You're right. You're nothing but an infant and a coward!" he snarled.

She nodded. Then, slowly, shaking, she took off her ninja robe, and withdrew one of her knives. She poised the knife at her breast-

It wouldn't move because Yunsung had stopped her. "No." he said.

"Y-y-yes..."she begged, pulling the knife weakly, "P-p-please..."

"No!" he shouted at her, keeping a firm grip on the knife, not sure if he should tug it away or not. "It'll solve nothing!" But she made a sharp, sudden tug, and the knife sunk right into her chest, right where her heart was.

"No!"

"Yes...Yes..."Taki gasped in response, looking up at him with a look of astonished triumph on her face. Then her expression changed to fear, and she began to fall backwards.

Yunsung caught her back, "Taki!" he warned her as her body began to fall limp, becoming a dead weight on his arm. "Taki! Don't do this to me, now!" But just like Talim her head fell black, and he was forced to put her down, her lifeless body putting too much strain on his arm. She lay there, still, her eyes open, Yunsung shook his head at her, thinking about how things could have been for her. But he couldn't feel any kind of respect for the life she had lived. He had no intention of burying her. All he did was close her blankly staring eyes, the noise of the tornado blowing now causing his ears to ring, and he laid her sideways between the trees.

He turned away from Taki's corpse and looked toward the tornado. He wondered when it was ever going to stop. As if to answer his question, the winds began to die down, the noise stopped as suddenly as it had started, and the grey bulk blocking the clearing spaced out and disappeared like Taki's clones. The trees stopped moving. Yunsung took a deep breath, and began what seemed like his longest journey, towards the clearing.

oOoOoOo

He approached the clearing slowly, dreading finding Talim's dead body in the water or in the trees somewhere, smashed and broken by the sudden storm. But he had to- he had to bury her and give her the respect she deserved- as a magnificent wife and saviour to the world. He could now see the broken and tattered trees closest to the clearing. He thought numbly about the golden light and how he was saved, but he was more concerned with what he could possibly do with his life now...

Something light-coloured was coming into view, something which was lying on the ground next to the lake, where branches and small trees floated. At least he didn't have to go looking for her, Yunsung thought. But as he got ever closer, he noticed something peculiar- he couldn't see any blood or any other abrasions yet, and he was almost at the edge of the clearing. He quickened his pace.

A body who was unmistakably Talim lay in the middle of the clearing. She was naked, but her skin looked completely unharmed; even the scars she had before were gone. Her skin looked as soft as a newborn child's. Her eyes were closed, and Yunsung's heart jumped into his throat when she took a breath.

"T-T-Talim?" he said, unable to believe it.

Slowly her eyes opened, and swiveled onto him.

"Please...please stop doing that." Yunsung said, putting a hand on his forehead and feeling faint.

She blinked at him once, and then looked down on her body. She looked up at him wryly, "What did you do with my clothes?"

"Maybe you're a ghost and don't need them anymore." Yunsung pondered, seriously thinking about it.

Talim smirked, "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Yunsung was still unwilling to go any closer to her in case she might disappear, "Talim, seriously..." he said tremulously, "W-why aren't you dead?"

"I _was_ dead."she said, still lying on the ground quite still, "But I was given a second chance. The Wind did. I didn't want to go Into the Trees yet. She asked me to be with her but I would rather be down here."

"Talim... Talim this is incredible!" Yunsung exclaimed, "You just..."

"No-one is going to find out." she said sagely, "And you'll never tell."

Suddenly, a persuasive thought came into Yunsung's head: _Why should you tell? You've got so many reasons not to! You don't even have to name them._ Yunsung scratched his head and looked down at Talim, "What else can you do apart from coming back from the dead?"

"Nothing more. I'm just human now. Can't read the wind, can't do anything strange." she said sadly, looking up into the sky, "I'm just Talim now."

"I suppose I wouldn't have it any other way." said Yunsung, finally finding the courage to kneel down beside her. Her first movement was to take his head between her hands and pull him down to kiss him. Then she stood up, and he stood up with her. She sniggered a little, looking down at herself, than at Yunsung, "What am I going to do?"

"You might just have to go natural." said Yunsung, admiring her new body.

"But people will think I'm a nymph with skin like this." she said, rubbing her arm.

Yunsung took her in his arms. Her skin was very soft indeed, and he found his hands having a bit of an adventure. Talim slapped him, jumped away, and said something about leaves. Any Yunsung felt, at last, everything was back to normal.

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That's it! After about seven months this story has reached it's conclusion! Of course, detailed reviews would be much appreciated! And I'll leave a little note afterwards in retrospect of this story. So REVIEW PLEASE!


	24. A Note from the Author

Well, my little story is over!

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who's been reviewing this story. It means a lot to me and makes me feel great. Thanks. Here's a shoutout to all my regulars:

-mystic-Hoshi

-Jo

-heaven-monument

-Dawn-of-the-phenix

-AuthorLittle

-lupi loop

-Venusgurl5

-DevilKidd

-Half-elf

-areku26

-relyna

**You all ROCK!**

Stuff I was pleased about in this story include

-the climaxes,

-the detail which I think has improved,

-the adjectives and speaking words

-the metaphors

-the characters of Taki, Tornado and Madam Sarene,

Now I'd like to outline how non-perfect this story is and where I need to improve.

-Planning

-Yunsung's character never properly defined

-Antagonists more defined and more 'fun' than the Protagonists.(IMO)

-Too much fluff and filler (as much as we all love it)

-Flow (nod to heavenmonument)

-sub-plots (Mina's chat, Weakness, beauty of women) never properly defined.

-Tornado was too weak to be a supervillan (she was just TIED UP!)

I could go on but I forget all the other ones. And that makes it look REALLY BAD! But apparently, according to the 96-or-so reviews so far it was a pretty good story. But I couldn't have continued it without my reviewers. Yet again **YOU ROCK ALL YOUR SOCKS!**

Now, another story, huh? Well, it might be a while before I think up another which has the proper plot and stuff. I have one in planning but I might not be able to think up a good climax- the characters and setting are going well though. If I do try making it you will find it is completely different in every way to this one. It will be set in modern day, but I assure you it won't be one of those "omg its your characters but set up in all kindsa weird modern situations omfg FUNEE!". Yeah. Anyways, see ya around!


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